X Over Trombone (2007)

The three works on this album are billed as "genre-shattering trombone concerti for the 21st century," but they're actually slightly oversold as such. Only one, the Concerto for trombone and orchestra of Jeff Tyzik (2003), is actually a product of this century, and the program as a whole is actually on the conservative side, no more "for the twenty-first century" than any other group of pieces that assert their continuing relevance. They are genre-bending in the sense of incorporating popular influences into traditional ... Read More

The three works on this album are billed as "genre-shattering trombone concerti for the 21st century," but they're actually slightly oversold as such. Only one, the Concerto for trombone and orchestra of Jeff Tyzik (2003), is actually a product of this century, and the program as a whole is actually on the conservative side, no more "for the twenty-first century" than any other group of pieces that assert their continuing relevance. They are genre-bending in the sense of incorporating popular influences into traditional concert-music frameworks with unusual elegance, but hardly "genre-shattering." Hyperbole aside, the program is worthwhile. Most noteworthy is the reconstruction by trombonist James Pugh of a vanished work by one of the twentieth century's shadowy but omnipresent figures, Nathaniel Shilkret. Known to anyone who has ever collected 78 rpm records, Shilkret was a prolific composer of arrangements for ensembles associated with the Victor label. He also wrote independent works like the... Read Less