The Rite Of Spring

Hubert Laws, a renowned soul-jazz flutist, made an ambitious attempt to play classical music with a jazz twist alongside Bob James on piano and harpsichord, Ron Carter on bass and cello, and Jack DeJohnette on drums. Airto and David Friedman offered percussion support and classical guitarists and bassoonists filled out the ensemble. The repertoire moved from Debussy's "Syrinx" to Faure's "Pavane" to Stravinsky's title track and two movements of Bach's Brandberg Concerto. Sadly, the transcriptions lacked soul and the improvisations too rare to save the project. Though valiant, this experiment went slightly awry.