Blues on Bach
Blues on Bach is an album by American jazz group the Modern Jazz Quartet recorded in 1973 and released on the Atlantic label.[4] The album includes five arrangements by John Lewis of pieces by Johann Sebastian Bach, interspersed with four original blues pieces "on" [the name] "Bach"—in keys (and with titles) that spell out in order the name B-A-C-H. The five pieces arranged from Bach originals are: "Regret?" from chorale prelude "The Old Year Has Now Passed Away"; "Rise Up in the Morning" from the 140th cantata "Sleepers Wake"; "Precious Joy" from the 147th cantata "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring"; "Don't Stop This Train" from the fugue by Johann Peter Kellner BWV Anh. 180 wrongly attributed to Bach;[5] and "Tears from the Children" from the Prelude 8 in E-flat minor from Book I of "The Well-Tempered Clavier". For the four blues pieces, the "spelling" of the titles follows the system Bach and his German contemporaries used, in which the letter B indicates B-flat, and the letter H is B-natural. So, the four blues pieces that spell the name B-A-C-H are in the keys of B-flat (major), A (minor), C (minor) and B (major). ReceptionThe Allmusic review stated "This album has an interesting concept, alternating four original blues with five adaptations of melodies [sic] from classical works by Bach. The Modern Jazz Quartet had long been quite adept in both areas, and despite a certain lack of variety on this set (alternating back and forth between the two styles somewhat predictably), the music is largely enjoyable".[1] Track listing
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