BBC Music Magazine
March 2019
Jazz Choice

Makoto Ozone (piano), Tam Dean Burn (actor)

The Scottish National Jazz Orchestra, Tommy Smith

Leading Scots actor Tam Dean Burn joins the SNJO to create a wildly vivid jazz version of a hugely popular classical favourite: Serge Prokofieff ’s cautionary fable of Peter and the Wolf. On this brand new CD, his wonderful music is woven around an expressive monologue performed largely in the Scots vernacular, expertly adapted from the original by former Scots Poet Laureate (Makar), Liz Lochhead.

This new interpretation of Prokofieff ’s enduring work, meticulously arranged and orchestrated by Tommy Smith, is full of fresh ideas and thematically developed from 30 minutes into a 64 minute work, and remains true to the composer’s much-loved musical characterizations.

Tam Dean Burn is a respected and versatile actor, familiar to theatre, television and cinema audiences. His most notable film roles include appearances in The Outlaw King, War Horse and Perfect Sense. Liz Lochhead has long been a leading light in literature from Scotland, both as a poet and a playwright of distinction. Her plays include the box office hits Mary Queen of Scots Got Her head Chopped Off and Perfect Days.

Prokofieff ’s richly ingenious score is rewritten here in the language of jazz by one of the nation’s most daring and imaginative big bands. This live recording, captured at the Queens Hall in Edinburgh, also features Makoto Ozone, an acclaimed pianist internationally admired for his achievements in both jazz and classical music.

“combines virtuosity and ingenuity with unadulterated theatricality … in a delightful collision between folk tale and big-band swing …” - ***** The Scotsman

“…at full power…Full of wit… and they swung. Hugely entertaining” - On The Beat

"This project arguably fails at so many levels yet still manages to be the most joyously engaging of listening experiences, thus ultimately succeeding completely. Warmly recorded in a live setting, the entire performance tears up the rulebook in the best possible way. Unreservedly recommended." - BBC Music Magazine, March 2019.