One of the greatest cultural blessings of the past century is the legacy of the popular song. No matter the passage of time or circumstance, the first few notes of a treasured standard has the power to set the heart soaring and the mind reflecting. An artist and musician whose personal resume is as stylistically expansive as his personal collection of influences, saxophonist
Brandon Fields has, since the mid-1980s, built an impressive jazz discography upon an exciting blend of colorful originals and artful covers of be-bop and modern R&B classics. On the aptly titled Fields and Strings,
Fields -- working with an orchestra led and contracted by his wife
Gina Kronstadt and the magnificent arrangements of Grammy winner
Jorge Calandrelli -- pays homage to a bygone era in modern music with new and inspired interpretations of 12 of his favorite all-time pieces. Not surprisingly, the project took shape as something of a family activity, with Mr. and Mrs.
Fields acting as executive producers and
Kronstadt -- a veteran concertmaster whose strings have backed everyone from Sarah Vaughn to
Earth, Wind & Fire -- playing violin and contracting the orchestra.
Kronstadt had worked extensively in the past with
Jorge Calandrelli, well-known for his arrangements for such diverse artists as
Yo-Yo Ma,
Tony Bennett,
Eddie Daniels,
Gloria Estefan, and
Barbra Streisand.
Fields had always loved the arranger's unique and intricate combination of harmonic sophistication and overall beauty of presentation. A 40-piece string section (violin, violas, cello) creates masterful mood swings and atmospheres behind the principal quartet of
Fields on alto, tenor, and soprano saxes,
Alan Pasqua on piano,
Dave Carpenter on bass, and
Peter Erskine on drums. Fields and Strings begins with
Fields' wistful soprano melody creating a dreamy counterpoint to the increasing rhythm of the strings on "Little Sunflower." He follows a soulful, sentimental take on "When Sunny Gets Blue" with a swaying, gently percussive waltz arrangement of "Misty" and a melancholy-graced "The Look of Love" (which moves from softly atmospheric to playful waltz and back again). On a sly, moody interpretation of Gershwin's "Summertime,"
Fields seduces with a subtle melody line over Carpenter and Erskine's hypnotic, shuffling bass and drum groove. The mood swings up on a brisk, jumpy variation of "I'll Remember April" entitled "I' ll Remember..." (featuring
Fields's alto racing jubilantly against the multiple clarinet tracks of
Dan Higgins). Then it eases back down for a moonlit, heavily orchestrated film score feeling on "Loverman." The quartet stirs up a lively, galloping rhythm and melody combination as the orchestra builds a sense of drama on "Stolen Moments," then conjures a
Stanley Turrentine-flavored, soulful elegance on "Angel Eyes." The set concludes with
Fields' eloquent sax wrapped in a rich orchestral caress on the always magical "What a Wonderful World." ~ Jonathan Widran