Lullaby of Birdland - Andrea Motis & Joan Chamorro Quintet featuring Scott Hamilton

CD album 'Live at Jamboree_Barcelona' 2013
This live performance amazed me in such a way that the head was arranged and played in a J.S. Bach fugue style in the first one and half minute. Fugue was musical form during the Baroque period calling for strict counterpoint harmony. Pianist Terrazza who adopted this form in a modern tune has aptly created a contrasting effect to the improvising nature of a jazz standard.
The introduction begins with a theme which was taken from the first few notes of the song melody. After its first appearance, the theme got repeated in difference voices in a counterpoint movement. As the music keeps going, one can hear the transition from a fugue format to gradually moving the song's original jazz format through the change of rhythm and increasing use of non-diatonic notes. Finally the fugue ended with a series of chord progression in tonic pedal to serve as a guiding point for the band to kick in.
Written by George Shearing
Bass - Joan Chamorro
Drums - Esteve Pi
Guitar - Josep Traver
Lead Vocals, Trumpet, Alto Saxophone - Andrea Motis
Piano, Organ - Ignasi Terraza
Tenor Saxophone - Scott Hamilton
#jazz #shearing #lullabyofbirdland