| OJ,
It seems that you've answered your own question!
Since we can all agree that a series of chromatic figures in repetition has limited lsitening value, I think many of the people that have recorded it have done so for two reasons:
1) It is a technical challenge to play the passages EVENLY and musically
2) They wish to put their pwn stamps on the piece
Compare, for example, the Mendez version with dance orchestra and Harry James' which is up a half step. It is a challenge to learn the James when you've practiced the usual one in concert E minor. I think Harry James was the first band leader in America to come up with a jazz version. If anybody knows of an earlier jazz version that would be fun to know about.
It is a difficult piece from the standpoint of even technique, breath control, and musicality. Can you make it sound like a piece of music instead of a technical firework? Can you maintain a consistency of sound from the lowest register to the highest section of it or does it go from blurry low notes to pinched high notes?
So, my challenge is this: look at the piece again and play it with those qualities and see if Rick doesn't actually have a point.
ML |