Acclaimed American Jazz Pianist Uri Caine Tours NZ In March

Jazz Meets Classics: Acclaimed American Jazz Pianist Uri Caine Tours NZ In March

Grammy-nominated New York jazz pianist Uri Caine joins the New Zealand String Quartet in Chamber Music New Zealand's 2016 opening concert in Wellington in March.

Uri Caine and the New Zealand String Quartet perform at the Michael Fowler Centre on Sunday 20 March as part of the New Zealand Festival. The concert is part of a 10-centre tour by Uri Caine with Chamber Music New Zealand which includes performances with the quartet in Auckland, Christchurch and Dunedin; and a solo programme in Hawke's Bay, New Plymouth, Palmerston North, Nelson, Queenstown and Invercargill.

Known for his collaborations with a range of musicians and ensembles from the Beaux Arts Trio to John Zorn; the Woody Herman Band to the Moscow Chamber Orchestra, Uri Caine reimagines the classics, taking classical music and using it as a springboard for improvisation in fascinating and entertaining ways.

Chamber Music New Zealand chief executive Peter Walls is excited to be bringing Uri Caine to New Zealand for this season opener tour and says he discovered Uri Caine some years ago. “I was completely won over by his treatment of music that I knew and loved. His Goldberg Variations are a revelation because Uri recognises that Bach has something to say, not just to jazz musicians, but to hard rock afficionados and early music buffs too. Each variation is given a fresh treatment with enormous variety in the character and style, and humour.”

Uri Caine joins the New Zealand String Quartet for four of his 10 New Zealand concerts – the quartet is known for their creative collaborations with jazz artists including the legendary American guitarist Jim Hall and pianist Mike Nock.

The programme with the New Zealand String Quartet includes Caine’s original compositions for piano and string quartet Jagged Edges and String Theories along with improvisations on the Allegretto con variazioni of Beethoven's 'Harp' Quartet Op. 74, and the magnificent Goldberg Variations of J.S Bachdescribed by the composer as “diverse variations composed for music lovers to refresh their spirits”.

The BBC’s Classical Music website describes Uri Caine’s arrangements as "wonderfully inventive and they're brilliantly executed, too. There's humour aplenty, yet Caine respects musicality - each variation is crafted with due expertise. Parody? Pastiche? It's more a carnivalesque celebration of Bach's enduring appeal. If only more tributes could be this bold, this creative, this much fun."

Uri Caine performs at the Michael Fowler Centre on Sunday 20 March at 5.00pm as part of the New Zealand Festival. Tickets are available through Ticketek 0800 842 538 www.ticketek.co.nz and for further details visit www.chambermusic.co.nz

ENDS

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