Search - Klazz Brothers / Cuba Percussion, Tobias Forster, Lou Bega :: Mozart Meets Cuba

If you have an open mind, you'll love this 'twist' on Mozart

A. Semeco | Atlanta, GA USA | 06/26/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I've listened to my share of tropical-flavored classical music. In most of them, the latin rhythm and the percussion just overwhelm the main melody. Not here; it sounds more like Jazz-improvised variations on a theme. I particularly liked the Rondo alla Turca (#5) and Elvira Madigan (#6).



Others may consider this album sacrilegious."

Another Effusive Melding of Cuban and Classical with the Foc

Ed Uyeshima | San Francisco, CA USA | 01/01/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"As a follow up to their accomplished fusion effort last year, "Classic Meets Cuba", the Klazz Brothers and Cuba Percussion have collaborated again for much of the same, only this time focusing specifically on the works of Mozart. If the results are not quite as exhilarating as the first effort, it may be that the novelty feels somewhat worn this time despite the often virtuoso playing displayed here. Recalling some of Vince Guaraldi's work in the 1960's, the jazzy arrangements are once again supplemented with the beat-heavy Cuban rhythms churned out by Alexis Herrera Estevez on timbales and Elio Rodriguez Luis on congas. What continues to impress on this recording is how well the two sides of the ensemble - Estevez and Rodriguez on one and on the other, pianist Tobias Forster, bassist Killian Forster and drummer Tim Hahn - mesh so well in making all the disparate musical elements balance without contrivance.



Many of Mozart's most renowned pieces are here in reconfigured form. The warhorse Piano Sonata K. 545 ("Sonata Facile") turns into a sunny Caribbean number, "Calypso Facile", while the staccato-tempo Turkish March evolves into the propulsive "Cuban March". More creatively, the familiar Piano Concerto No. 21, K. 467 turns into an African-accented bolero named appropriately "Afrolero" complete with a faraway-sounding whistle, while Eine Kleine Nachtmusik K. 525 becomes a percolating dance number, "Bomba de la Noche". Even more audaciously, they turn the overture to "Don Giovanni" into a slow, evocative bolero number, "Don Muerte", and the familiar aria, "La Ci Darem La Mano" into a lovely piano-dominated ballad, "Reich Mir Die Hand (Your Hand in Mine)". Somewhat less successful are the two selections derived from "The Magic Flute" - "Yo Siento Mucho", a cha-cha version of "Ach, Ich Fuhl's" and Forster's extended piano riffs based on the potpourri passage, "Salzburger Schafferl". Latin pop artist Lou Bega lends his saucy vocals to "Son de Mozart", a clubby reinvention of Fantasia in C Minor, K. 475. This is fun listening for fans of Latin-classical fusion."

Latin Jazz from the Olden Golden Days

Stuart C. Brown | Midwest USA | 04/23/2010

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I will write one review of the 4 Klazz Brothers albums, and place it in each of the review columns.



What a great idea to latinize or cubanize, classical, opera, and jazz standards. I had to buy all 4 because each had something to offer. The integration of latin with classical, for most (not all), was seamless. It sounds like the pieces were written to be played this way.



The intros and exits were more the actual "tune" recognizable by classical lovers, while the middle had the super jazz improvizations. Slower pieces were slow rumba-bolereo, romantic sounds. Faster ones were chacha-mambos.



The "Mozart meets" and "Classical meets" had more fitting integrations of the, really not so different styles. Most of the "Opera meets" were not as a good a fit - really quite a stretch in some cases. The "Jazz meets" of course went perfectly, since it was already jazz, just played with someone elses take on it.



Being a lover of all 3 genres, it is a fantastic collection of music. It also gave me additional musical insites of the original classical pieces.



Now I await their treatment of JS Bach in a new album they don't yet know they are going to make - hint hint."