Mark Masters

Porgy & Bess Redefined Mark Masters

Porgy and Bess was Gershwin's longest and most ambitious work as well as his personal favorite. Many jazz arrangers have found the epic folk opera's thematic material fertile ground for embellishment and reinvention. Masters' "in and out" approach recasts the music while retaining it's substance. He used the original vocal score which has no chord changes, freeing him to some extent harmonically. Masters' efforts are aided immeasurably by an ensemble of superb musicians who not only play the notes but convey the spirit. He has succeeded in bringing his own concept to these familiar pieces. Features soloists Billy Harper, Tim Hagens, Gary Smulyan and others.