This set of Duke Ellington music certainly has enough appeal for most jazz folk. Having said that I should also make it clear that this is not your average Duke type CD, not at all. An esoteric, free flowing, Eastern flavoured Caravan kicks off the album and is followed by Sucrier Velours which has haunting string and keyboard effects but is melodic and represents a fresh look at an Ellington composition. More in a conventional jazz bag is The Mooche with Morgan’s walking bass line introducing several soprano and alto sax segments and what sounds like an uncredited harmonic solo following on. Although this music is a very personalized take on the compositions of Ellington and Strayhorn, it is original and often quite fascinating and enjoyable. The soundscapes are exotic and sometimes over rich although many listeners will appreciate a fresh approach and some new harmonies on some very familiar jazz material. Individual solos are well constructed and inventive, as you would expect from soloists of this caliber. Overall though, like Duke before him, it is the bandleader’s sound that communicates most strongly, the arrangements and solo efforts coalescing into a personal reading of the music.
Derek Ansell Jazz Journal International, May 2006
The following short quotes and reviews are about the boxed set of four CDs "Songs of earth and alchemy" (HARLE005) available online.
This four CD box ..is a testament to the extraordinary versatility of this brilliant saxophonist.
Independent, 25 March 2006, Michael Church
‘Crossover’ is a term that usually sends jazz fans running for cover, but this tribute album created by a musician known best for his TV soundtracks is as satisfying an update of Duke Ellington as you could wish for. .... the loveliest track of all is the sultry Sonnet for Caesar – the Duke would have approved.
John Bungey, Times, 11.3.06
Harle is one of those renaissance men that defy, thankfully, categorization; a champion of the saxophone within classical music, he’s always fearlessly employed ‘jazz’ musicians …..…. ‘T&M’ seems an unlikely context for some fearlessly grand jazz .. there are moments of unearthly beauty … eerie, magical and oddly timeless.
Andy Robson, extract from Jazzwise, February 06
The first four releases .. are a dazzling display of eclecticism:
Phillip Sommerich, Classical Music, 4 February 2006
This four CD box, released on his own label, is a testament to the extraordinary versatility of this brilliant saxophonist. Not only do we get his jazz work (a tribute to Johnny Hodges), but also a wide variety of classical and experimental tracks, including his music for the film Silent Witness, and his collaborations with South Sea island singers.
Independent, 25 March 2006, Michael Church
The saxophonist-composer John Harle is often spoken of as the creator of an original fusion of classical poise and jazz freedom. His interest in early music – distilled in his collaborations with Elvis Costello and the Balanescu Quartet – evokes the Hilliard Ensemble’s work with another footloose saxophonist, Jan Garbarek. Television soundtracks (Silent Witness is just one of the screen items) turn up in abundance .. …The guest appearances by Richard Rodney-Bennett and Stan Tracey are an undeniable bonus.
Extract from Sunday Times Culture, Feb 12 2006, Clive Davis
‘Crossover’ is a term that usually sends jazz fans running for cover, but this tribute album created by a musician known best for his TV soundtracks is as satisfying an update of Duke Ellington as you could wish for. The set, originally released in 1992, employed a varied cast – from Richard Rodney Bennett via Stan Tracey to Paul Clarvis – in settings subtly adapted to Harle’s polished sound world. A fast-moving Caravan swirls with desert mystery, while Harle’s playing on Star-Crossed Lovers recalls Ellington’s alto sax star, Johnny Hodges. The Mooche is a cool late night strut with wailing harmonica from Paul Jones, and In A Mellotone rolls back the years with big bang swing and bop piano from Tracey. But the loveliest track of all is the sultry Sonnet for Caesar – the Duke would have approved.
John Bungey, Times, 11.3.06
Harle is one of those renaissance men that defy, thankfully, categorization; a champion of the saxophone within classical music, he’s always fearlessly employed ‘jazz’ musicians – and not always in the most obvious of contexts ….whether or not you’re comfortable with what some would call cultural tourism is one thing; more pertinent for Jazzwise readers perhaps is a distinct lack of jazz (on Spirit Walk) although Andy Sheppard and Steve Lodder donate some splendidly lissome lines to ‘New Ashes’. Altogether more successful is ‘The Shadow of the Duke’, Harle’s re-imaginings of classic Ellington songs …. It’s the impertinent re-workings, like ‘Sonnet for Caesar’ which is upgraded from a small group piece to an epic of cinematic proportions that tickle the imagination. Nice triangle too. There’s also a warm live in the studio feel to much of the album …. ‘T&M’ seems an unlikely context for some fearlessly grand jazz, but Harle’s arrangements of medieval and Tudor songs for an extraordinary range of musical colours also leave space for Harle and Sheppard to blow hard .. there are moments of unearthly beauty … eerie, magical and oddly timeless. That’s the album as a whole ….
Andy Robson, extract from Jazzwise, February 06
John Harle is a rare bird: a musician who is equally at home in the worlds of jazz, pop and classical music, as well as writing music for films and television. This boxed set of four CDs (originally released separately between 1992 and 2002) illustrates his breadth and versatility, although only the last of the discs is likely to interest hard-core jazz fans.
The first CD, entitled Silencium, features three sopranos who are anything but silent, singing songs against a richly orchestrated background, reminding one of the mystical outpourings of Clannad or Enya. Several tunes were written for films and TV – among them Astrea, the theme for a Nissan car commercial. John Harle’s numerous resources here include the Academy of St Martin-in-the-Fields and choirs from Worcester Cathedral and a Merseyside primary school.
The second CD is equally wide-ranging, using Elvis Costello as vocalist in some Shakespeare songs. Terror and Magnificence is a 20 minute piece with ominous spoken words (in French) and Andy Sheppard joining John Harle in stratospheric saxophone wailing.
Spirit Walk, the third CD, might be described as World Music, as it uses recordings of Indonesian and Maori singers and musicians, which Harle sets against jazz-rock and rap rhythms. The music was written for The Ship, a TV programme reconstructing Captain Cook’s voyage to the South Seas. Jazzmen like Andy Sheppard and Chris Laurence are among the musicians, but there’s not much jazz content.
And so to the final CD: a tribute to Duke Ellington which transmutes some Ducal tunes with opulent orchestrations and loads of echo. Caravan includes some fine piano from Steve Lodder and vibes from Frank Ricotti. The Mooche is turned into a gentle swinger with bluesy harmonica from Paul Jones, and there are soulful renditions of little-known Ellington ballads like Sucrier Velours and Sultry Sunset.
Stan Tracey and his son Clark are guests on a big-band arrangement of In a Mellotone, and Sonnet for Caesar is strangely transformed into an echoey ambient piece. John Harle displays his sincere appreciation of Ellington, even though he takes some wild liberties with the Duke’s music. Harle is certainly an eclectic composer/ arranger: picking up bits and pieces like a musical magpie and sometimes transforming them into heavenly music and sometimes descending into overblown pretension. His saxophone is often eloquent but occasionally it’s just too piercing, man.
Crescendo & Jazz Music, Feb/ March 2006, Tony Augarde