''Experiencing Tosca'' is an album by the group Tethered Moon, comprising pianist

Masabumi Kikuchi was a Japanese jazz pianist and composer known for his unique playing style. He worked with many diverse musicians, including Sonny Rollins, Miles Davis, McCoy Tyner, Elvin Jones, Gary Peacock and Paul Motian, and collaborated with Gil Evans and ...

, bassist

Gary Peacock Gary George Peacock (May 12, 1935September 4, 2020) was an American jazz double bassist. He recorded a dozen albums under his own name, and also performed and recorded with major jazz figures such as avant garde saxophonist Albert Ayler, piani ...

and drummer

Paul Motian Stephen Paul Motian (March 25, 1931 – November 22, 2011) was an American jazz drummer, percussionist, and composer of Armenian descent. He played an important role in freeing jazz drummers from strict time-keeping duties. Motian first came t ...

, recorded in late 2002 and released on the

Winter & Winter Winter & Winter is a record label in Munich, Germany that specializes in jazz, classical and improvised music. It was founded by Stefan Winter following the demise of his JMT Records label. Since 1997 Winter & Winter has released records by Da ...

label in 2004. The album features the groups interpretation of

Giacomo Puccini Giacomo Puccini (22 December 1858 29 November 1924) was an Italian composer known primarily for List of compositions by Giacomo Puccini#Operas, his operas. Regarded as the greatest and most successful proponent of Italian opera after Verdi, he ...

's music for ''

Tosca ''Tosca'' is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa. It premiered at the Teatro dell'Opera di Roma, Teatro Costanzi in Rome on 14 January 1900. The work, based on Victorien Sardou's 1 ...

'' along with original compositions inspired by the opera.

Reception

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

awarded the album 3 stars, stating, "The very idea that Tethered Moon's members could put a new spin on Tosca no less than 102 years after Puccini wrote it speaks well of their interpretive powers. At times, ''Experiencing Tosca'' can be overly self-indulgent, but not in a way that is disrespectful of Puccini's contributions. Besides, a certain amount of self-indulgence is to be expected in avant-garde jazz, and Tethered Moon deserves credit for providing an album that is tasteful as well as intriguing."Henderson, A.
Allmusic Review
accessed December 8, 2014 The

PopMatters ''PopMatters'' is an international online magazine of cultural criticism that covers aspects of popular culture. ''PopMatters'' publishes reviews, interviews, and essays on cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, ...

review stated, "Very good in excessively separated parts."Calder, R. R.
PopMatters Review
August 5, 2004 John Kelman wrote on

AllAboutJazz ''All About Jazz'' is a website established by Michael Ricci in 1995. A volunteer staff publishes news, album reviews, articles, videos, and listings of concerts and other events having to do with jazz. Ricci maintains a related site, ''Jazz Near ...

, "''Experiencing Tosca'' may be the most successful Tethered Moon project. The interplay is sharp while the images are abstract, and there is solid evidence that while they only meet intermittently, Kikuchi, Peacock and Motian share a clear collective vision."Kelman, J.
AllAboutJazz Review
May 15, 2004

Track listing

''All compositions by Masabumi Kikuchi, Paul Motian and Gary Peacock after Giacomo Puccini except as indicated'' # "Prologue" - 1:42 # "Part I" - 8:21 # "Part II" - 6:25 # "Part III" - 7:29 # "Homage to Puccini" (Masabumi Kikuchi) - 7:00 # "Ballad" - 8:14 # "Blues for Tosca" (Kikuchi) - 5:18 # "Part IV" - 11:01

Personnel

piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

References

{{Authority control Winter & Winter Records albums Masabumi Kikuchi albums Gary Peacock albums Paul Motian albums 2004 albums