The Jazz Kamerata

1	Circle 5:17
2	Nefertiti 9:03
3	Last Year's Waltz 4:26
4	Quiet Rising 6:58
5	Allison's Dance 4:02
6	When Autumn Comes 6:55
7	Prism 5:05
8	Van Gogh 4:55
9	Very Early 6:29
10	Elegia 7:08

Barnes & Noble

This beautiful recital is the latest triumph of Argentine composer, arranger, pianist, and singer Carlos Franzetti, whose recent collaborations with pianist Steve Kuhn (Promises Kept) and David Sanchez (Coral) were textbook examples of how string writing can generate intense emotion with a minimum of schmaltz. Here Franzetti sets up spare contrapuntal string and woodwind responses to ‘60s and ‘70s material by Kuhn, Claus Ogerman, Bill Evans, Miles Davis, Wayne Shorter, Keith Jarrett, Pat Metheny, and Clare Fischer. He then descends from the podium to the piano, sharing improvisational and melodic responsibilities with saxophonist Lawrence Feldman and bassist Jay Leonhart. The harmonic challenges of the arrangements spur the soloists to postulate fresh ideas; the mood is dreamy, introspective, a touch melancholy, unfailingly melodic. Produced in the SACD format, the sound is, as on all Chesky releases, superb. Ted Panken

All Music Guide

A set of songs written by jazz musicians were arranged for this project by pianist Carlos Franzetti for piano, sax, bass, flute, clarinet, and a string quartet. The results are pleasing if not overly memorable. While the selections are often challenging, the interpretations are more middle-of-the-road and fairly accessible due to the strings. Franzetti and saxophonist Lawrence Feldman take most of the solos and their improvisations are excellent, although the utilization of strings and woodwinds smoothes over some of the rough edges of the compositions, making the results fairly safe if occasionally unpredictable. Scott Yanow