Paquito D’Rivera and N.J. Symphony bring ‘that swing’ to Mozart at NJPAC | Review

The New Jersey Symphony just proved Duke Ellington’s old adage true once again: It don’t mean a thing if it ain’t got that swing. The group’s concert last Thursday at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center in Newark presented classics, new music and new riffs on classics. The program didn’t appear particularly enticing on paper. But in person, the music wasn’t just rousing — it had that swing.
Much of that swing came from Cuban-born artist Paquito D’Rivera. A Grammy-winning musician who has composed more than 40 albums, D’Rivera performed in the first half of Thursday’s concert. There is no better work to introduce D’Rivera than his “Adagio on a Mozart Theme,” the second piece performed in the program which he co-curated. A mashup of Mozart and New Orleans-style jazz, this 1977 arrangement has become a D’Rivera signature. For most of the piece, he deconstructed the slow movement of Mozart’s 1791 clarinet concerto, rescoring it for jazz quintet and orchestra. But Paquito also had a clarinet solo part, in which he wandered into the melodies of other Mozart chestnuts like “Eine Kleine Nachtmusik” and the Piano Sonata No. 11. During the latter he stopped in the middle to let the NJPAC audience sing along. D’Rivera’s instincts and understanding of musical connections truly brought the piece to life.
D’Rivera and the Jersey players then riffed on melodies from another iconic composer: George Gershwin. Joined by soprano Amber Monroe, the NJS and D’Rivera’s quintet played songs from “Porgy and Bess” as well as choice selections from “Rhapsody in Blue.”
Monroe brought a refined, operatic style to her singing of staples like “Summertime.” A duet with her and a saxophone arrangement of the male Porgy part in “Bess, You Is My Woman Now” was memorable. In addition to Rhapsody’s famous opening glissando, D’Rivera also used his clarinet to deliver a swinging, jazzy rendition of Gershwin’s hit tune, “But Not For Me.” This anthem has been covered by Diana Krall, Elton John and even Chet Baker. But listening to this 22-minute interpretation of the work, it became clear how deeply imbedded the tune is in the American songbook and pop culture.
These were just two of the pieces from this eclectic program. The concert opened with “Latin American Chronicles,” a 2015 piece by composer Daniel Freiberg. His music often called to mind jazzy film scores from neo-noir films from the 1970s like “Chinatown” and “The Long Goodbye.” Freiberg gave soloist D’Rivera many lovely clarinet melodies to spin into sonic gold. It was a fun way to open the concert and set the mood for Mozart and Gershwin to follow.
After intermission, D’Rivera was seated in the audience and focus turned to conductor Carlos Miguel Prieto. After leading the NJS and Paquito’s quintet through the jazzy portion of the program, Prieto presided over more symphonic works like Aaron Copland’s “El Salon Mexico” and Carlos Chavez’s Symphony No. 2, “Sinfonía India.” The two pieces were both written in the 1930s and the two composers knew each other. Prieto’s sensitive but lively conducting made these two works feel completely in concert with each other.
Things wrapped up with Arturo Marquez’s “Danson No. 2″ and finally Jose Pablo Moncayo’s “Huapango,” The 9-minute piece was a showstopper, featuring thrusting melodies and driving rhythms. Prieto brought out particularly fine pizzicato playing from the strings and harpist. With seven unique works on the program, this was one of the longer New Jersey Symphony concerts in recent history, but also one of the most fun.
James C. Taylor can be reached [email protected]. Find NJ.com/entertainment on Facebook.