SCHIFRIN / SCHULLER / SHAPIRO: Piano Trios (Eaken Piano Trio/ Victor Ledin) (Naxos American Classics: 8.559062)

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The three American trios that fill this disc were composed by Lalo Schifrin (b. 1932), Gunther Schuller (b. 1925), and Gerald M. Shapiro (b. 1942). Lalo Schifrin's Hommage a' Ravel (1995) is an eclectic mix of impressionism, African and South American rhythms, jazz and Middle-Eastern scales. The second movement of his trio is a gaucho tango, the third is an elegie on a visit to the misty graveside of Maurice Ravel, and the 'fun' finale in which each instrument has it's own cadenza. Gunther Schuller's Piano Trio (1984) is a wonderful synthesis of jazz and classical music. He combines a tone-row with the beat of the heart and the jazzy- swing rhythms of Oscar Peterson. Gerald Shapiro's delightful Piano Trio (1922) reflects the post-impressionism contrapuntal writing of his teachers. Milhaud and Boulanger, spiced with bits of Prokofiev, Brahms, post-Webern serialism and jazz.