Page 199 - Alison Balsom Quiet City FULL BOOK

Quiet City Alison Balsom (trumpet), Britten Sinfonia/Scott Stroman (Warner Classics)

Just two of the pieces on this disc are originals. Which is fine; wind and brass players get used to
playing transcriptions and arrangements, and if they’re well done, who’s complaining?
Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue is heard here in a version by Simon Wright for solo trumpet, piano
and orchestra; a few misjudged splashes of tuned percussion aside, it’s a blast. Alison Balsom’s
audacious opening swoop is jaw-dropping and very funny. You know you’re in safe hands.
Pianist Tom Poster and Scott Stroman’s punchy Britten Sinfonia wisely keep Gershwin’s faster
passages moving, Balsom knowing instinctively when to linger and when to push things forward.
Her arrangement of the “Pas de deux” from Bernstein’s On the Town is another triumph, Balsom
soaring above Stroman’s high-class pit band. Recording Gil Evans’ version of
Rodrigo’s Concierto de Aranjuez takes some courage. Balsom admits in the booklet notes that
she’s playing a transcription of Miles Davis’ improvised solo line, but she does it beautifully, her
tone reduced to a breathy whisper. Evans was a great arranger and orchestrator; Stroman’s
players show us how and why. Every detail registers: soft harp flurries, clicking castanets and
sonorous blocks of muted brass. It’s good.