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If Nigel Kennedy is the bad boy of classical music then his latest release, “My World,” provides an unabashed glimpse into the creative genius of this flamboyant violinist and crossover artist. Featured here are Kennedy’s own compositions, written as a tribute to former and current mentors and with it the idea of perhaps capturing their characteristics through musical expression. His arrangements are deliciously nuanced with a palette of atmospheric effects which are infused with classical and jazz elements in collaboration with an ensemble of accomplished dudes on guitar, drums, bass, vibes, percussion, oboe, accordion - with support from the Oxford Philharmonic.
Kennedy’s musical dedications really hit home in Solitude, written for Yehudi Menuhin, of whom he had a personal relationship that began in studies at the Yehudi Menuhin School in England. The piece elicits a meditative quality where orchestrated avant-garde flourishes swirl into timelessness. During an interview, Kennedy said, “Yehudi was spiritual; practicing yoga and eating muesli and doing everything right, while Stephane was doing everything completely wrong but was just as magnificent as a player.” (The Sydney Morning Herald, 12.16.2016)
Melody in the Wind, in memory of French jazz violinist Stephane Grappelli, is brilliantly conceived for its use of imitative Q and A sequences between violin and oboe with an undercurrent of impressionistic sounds evoking Grappelli’s Paris collaborations with French Romani guitarist Django Reinhardt. Isaac Stern is remembered in Fallen Forest, where a heart-wrenching violin melody soars above a dark melodic soundscape infused with quasi-figured-bass, open intervals and pizzicato passagework found in serious ensemble repertoire – just up Stern’s chamber music alley.
Gibb it, for American bluegrass fiddle Mark O’Connor and Dla Jarka, a tribute to Polish jazz guitarist Jarek Smietana, offer outlandish displays of upbeat improvisation, catchy syncopation and off the fingerboard and soundboard virtuosity for violin and guitar.
The recording also includes incidental music Kennedy wrote for Chekhov’s play Three Sisters, staged by his wife. In the booklet notes, he says, “I did not consciously try to assume a Russian style for my writing because I think that the issues Chekhov explores are human and not nationalistic.” That’s for sure. Except for Olga and Masha’s stylistic leitmotifs (Tracks 9 and 13), Kennedy’s mixture of sounds and rhythmic inflections create a rather exotic accompaniment for stage or even film. Besides, one should expect the unexpected from this multi-talented artist.