Jazz guitarist Kurt Rosenwinkel and Swiss pianist Jean-Paul Brodbeck join forces on “The Chopin Project”, a historic collaboration which finds them reinterpreting the music of Fréderic Chopin for jazz quartet. Rosenwinkel and Brodbeck are joined by the young Swiss bassist Lukas Traxel, and drummer Jorge Rossy, a leading figure in the Spanish and American jazz communities.

One might wonder whether Chopin’s elegant romantic-era compositions would be suited to reinterpretation by a modern electric jazz quartet. Brodbeck and company, through 10 riveting performances of original arrangements of classic Preludes, Etudes, Nocturnes and Valses leave no doubt. Romantic rhythms shift into the swagger of swing, angular folk melodies transform into the blues, and the refined elegance of Chopin’s long arcing melody lines are transfigured by the transcendent energy of post-bop.