Our newest recording, Gershwin & Kern comes out August 14th, but Fanfare Magazine already has some thoughts in it in their latest issue:
“Despite the largely popular nature of this material, the Alexander Quartet takes their parts quite seriously, imparting a great deal of elegance and feeling to their accompaniments. Lluna plays these pieces with great élan and a sparkling technique, and I was rather amused to hear him open up his top register in all of these songs with a piercing quality reminiscent of Benny Goodman. There’s even a hint of Goodman’s klezmer background in certain of his attacks in “It Ain’t Necessarily So.” I tell you, folks, Goodman’s influence is finally being felt and acknowledged by classical clarinetists!
“…Despite the light quality of the scoring, however, the Alexander Quartet plays them—as they did the Gershwin—with exceptional taste and feeling. I was especially struck by the way they imbued “Bill,” one of Kern’s most popular but also more simple tunes, with an air of great delicacy, and played the introduction to “The Song is You” (one of the more complex pieces of writing here) almost in the manner of Mozart.
“…Lullaby by Gershwin sounds rather nice. The young composer, possibly trying his hand at string writing for the first time, does a nice job of writing variations on the rather slow, relaxed theme. I recall hearing this piece many, many moons ago, but can’t recall by whom. The Alexander Quartet’s version oozes charm and elegance.
An unusual, interesting disc … worth hearing for the high craft they bring to bear to these pieces—plus, the Porgy and Bess transcriptions are simply wonderful.” — Lynn René Bayley, Fanfare Magazine