Search - Vienna Art Orchestra, Ruegg, Breinschmid :: All That Strauss

Take a Strauss waltz, add a few jazz idioms, a dash of extended technique, encourage improvisation, and you have the Vienna Art Orchestra's All That Strauss. It seems that Johann and Eduard Strauss's "Waltzing Vienna" at the end of the 19th century prepared an entire city for the Jazz Age. Vienna Art's Mathias Rüegg's arrangements consist of expansive melodies from standard classical repertoire, magically crafted into inspired modern jazz and swing--as only his band can manage (remember their classic From No Time to Ragtime?). The occasionally recognizable "oom-pah" creeps into this recording, but the collective musicianship of the band pushes past any expectations of forced musical style. For all we know, had Johann lived another 25 years he might have kicked in a groove with the birth of jazz. --Alexis Odell