“BUDDY DE FRANCO PRESENTS JOHN DENMAN JOHN...

“BUDDY DE FRANCO PRESENTS JOHN DENMAN JOHN DENMAN PRESENTS BUDDY DE FRANCO.” Lud Records 101 (P.O. Box 44056, Tucson, Ariz. 85733). This meeting of the classical and jazz words is far less formalized than the Blanchard Telemann album reviewed above. The London-born Denman, formerly a professor at Trinity College of Music, is now a principal clarinetist with the Tucson Symphony, but on these sides he emerges, surprisingly, as a first-rate jazz musician. As De Franco states in the notes: “I would say that my ‘legit’ playing is pretty good for a jazz player, and John’s jazz playing is pretty good for a legit player. This is the closest we could come to combining the two and mixing it up a little.”

Two of the tracks were classically inspired: the Paganini “Caprice,” which combines Brahms and Rachmaninoff treatments of the same material, and the Bach-oriented “Unauthorized Touching,” which moves from traditional classical harpsichord played by Paula Fan, Denman’s wife, to jazz harpsichord by Keith Greko. Completing the combo are Phil Pearce on bass and Jim Bastin, who produced the album, on drums.

Although De Franco again offers evidence of his nonpareil technical command and harmonic imagination, the passages on which they trade fours in a couple of numbers leave Denman unscathed. Their harmony and counterpoint in “But Not for Me” shows a sensitivity and sympathy that is entirely successful in proving that this concept was musically and pragmatically valid. 4 stars.