Listen to “Concerto Nova, Movement 6” from Concerto Nova and the Jazz Music of W.A.Mathieu
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The Jazz Music of W. A. Mathieu
Concerto Nova, Mathieu’s 2012 concert piece, seamlessly melds classical forms with jazz styles into something that is unique and wonderful. The CD also includes six original compositions written for the Stan Kenton Orchestra in the late 1950s and recreated here by the Nova Jazz Orchestra.
The Nova Jazz Orchestra was formed in 1992 by Rose Lewis and Mike Krikava, and has developed into an outlet for Twin Cities musicians to write, play, and record original music. In the intervening 20+ years, Nova has produced a dozen full-length CDs of all-original music, including the critically acclaimed 2011 release of fourteen previously “lost” originals and arrangements by W. A. “Bill” Mathieu. These were charts that Bill wrote for the Stan Kenton Orchestra when he was a staff arranger on that band from 1958–1960. Through that work in 2011, Mathieu (“Uncle Billy” to us) has become Nova’s musical beacon and mentor. The collaboration that has grown between Mathieu and Nova led to the current project for which he generously wrote the six-movement Concerto Nova, a masterful concert piece that seamlessly melds classical form with jazz styles into something that is quite unique and wondrous. Nova wishes to thank Uncle Billy for his generosity, huge talent, and willingness to share with us. We are humbled and proud to have our name attached to such a piece as Concerto Nova.
