London Jazz Four

In compiling a modern album of Elizabethan music, London Jazz Four were faced with both technical and interpretive problems. Musically they had to decide how far we could alter the original notation in order to allow ourselves a more modern basis for improvisation, and at the same time preserve the original character of the music. To achieve this, they concentrated on melodies that were strong enough to withstand at times rather violent re-harmonisation, without losing their Elizabethan flavour. This is not to say that all the tunes received completely new harmonies, “Bony Sweet Robin”, “The Old Spagnoletta”, and “Flow My Tears” for example, are melodically and harmonically exactly as the original, whereas “Green Grows The Holly” only retains its rather beautiful melody.