Tierkreis (the German word for zodiac) was written by Karlheinz Stockhausen in 1974 for wind-up musical boxes but designed to be played by any instrument or combination of instruments and voices.
Each piece is named after a star sign and the composer's stipulation was that any public performance should begin with a melody falling under the sign of the performance date.
Bruno Heinen is former classical piano student at the Royal College of London who went on to study jazz at the Guidhall School of Music.
Both his parents - cellist Ulrich Heinen and violinist Jacqueline Ross - worked with Stockhausen in Germany in the 1970s so you could say the improvisatory composer's works are literally in his blood.
The beautifully packaged CD with lively art work, poster and explanatory text make plain that this project is a labour of love.
Heinen is backed by accomplished musicians on trumpet, bass clarinet, tenor sax, bass and drums. The sextet's complex but accessible arrangements seek to balance freedom and structure by being faithful to Stockhausen's tone-row compositions while adding fresh interpretations of their own.
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Heinen says Leo and Pisces are the most similar to the original scores although both also include added improvisations.
Highlights are the cool jazz of Gemini and the multi-layered free flowing Scorpio.
Anyone expecting a Stockhausen-related work to be 'difficult' listening will be pleasantly surprised by rich melodies and cool rhythms of this recording.
Heinen's free, yet respectful, interpretation of Tierkreis is neither pure jazz nor straight classical but a finely balanced and elegant mixture of the two.
Bruno Heinen's website
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