Night and Day – Visite au Jazz

« In the world of jazz I feel like a close friend on familiar territory and as such I have taken an immense pleasure in arranging and recording ten great American standards for guitar. More than just being a confined musical genre – with such an immense history – does jazz not above all evoke a certain approach, almost a musical philosophy ? What has come to characterize it, is a flexibility and freedom of tone that one could typify as « jazz attitude ».

Most of these grand classics, before they were ever included in the Real Book, found their origins in simple songs from comedies and musicals in the 1940’s and 1950’s, which were often preceded by prolonged introductions, surprisingly classical in style. Although lost in most later versions, the original « verses » that so beautifully kicked off these legendary theme songs (I love Paris and Over the rainbow, just to mention two titles) are firmly anchored in the birth of these great standards. In my eyes, retracing their origins did not only seem a natural and opportune task, but even a musicological duty.

Whatever your passion may be, either guitar or jazz, I would be delighted to invite you to this magical universe. » (Roland Dyens)