by Richard S. Ginell
Now besieged with requests for classical/jazz "suites" for himself and big-time classical performers, Claude Bolling took up violinist Pinchas Zukerman's commission, and out came another attractive confection that allows a classical cat to play quasi-jazzman for a day. This time, Bolling chooses mostly classical dance forms for his eight movements, still inserting mostly mainstream jazz segments (and a few vintage ones) around and under his soloist without getting him involved. Although he isn't asked to play jazz, Zukerman's warm, Romantic-era-grounded virtuosity doesn't betray even a hint of feeling for it; that makes Bolling's close-knit merger even more remarkable. On "Tango," the compulsively restless Zukerman switches to viola; elsewhere he sticks to the violin. Max Hediguer (bass) and Marcel Sabiani (drums) provide the propulsive rhythm in chosen spots, and Bolling still manages to swing hard even when playing underneath the square, heavy Zukerman tone.