Nigel Kennedy and Jaz Coleman
Riders on the Storm: The Doors Concerto

It is very difficult to evaluate a work for what it actually represents, stripped of what the author might have represented (in this case the legendary Doors of Jim Morrison with all they represented in the society of that time and in the post-sixties youth counterculture) or the performer itself (the much less known Jaz Coleman and Nigel Kennedy).

Operations of this kind are often tainted by prejudices of all sorts, starting right from the "purity of intents", something that the two classical music masters expertly manage to dodge here, reviving the most famous tracks of the legendary rock band while dressing them and reinterpreting them for violin and orchestra in a completely different context, in an absolutely new and unexpected territory.
Here are "these" Doors revisited in a classical key, indeed, with plenty of violins and cellos that, even without the charismatic voice of their leader, thanks to the skilled orchestral arrangements of composer Coleman and the virtuosity of violinist Nigel Kennedy, achieve the incredibly difficult task of "detaching" from the rock structure already "complete" and "reinventing" a spatial, epic and majestic music on which very few would have bet; halfway between the most intense Beethoven and the most hypnotic and ancestral Ravel.

In this way, the two manage to present us with surprisingly intense and original scores played by an entire orchestra of as many as 42 members (the Prague Symphony Orchestra!!) that lays out the repertoire of the Cult-Band in a definitely impactful and absolutely original manner. It almost seems that the "shamanic spirit" of Morrison has taken over the entire orchestral body, managing to almost perfectly reproduce the same restless and wild mood of the original sounds of the era. And never mind if the singing is absent (it could not have been otherwise) but here the sounds expand into moments of divine ecstasy alternated with leaden silences broken by whirling loops with a dark and exhilarating violin, which often compensate (and hold up well to comparison) with the voice of the untamed Californian poet who passed away prematurely.
It is a real surprise to hear the same atmospheres rendered, in some ways, more "potent" and poignant thanks to the majesty and grace of a collective divinatory rite conducted in the best possible way. A record to listen to without prejudices of form and, if possible, avoiding the game of (useless) comparisons.

Instead it seems (this is indeed a scoop for all the fans scattered across the peninsula) that the historic record agent of the group, Danny Sugerman, has announced a possible tour of the three surviving Doors (Manzarek, Krieger, and Densmore) for some concerts in Europe and the United States this year, right (by chance) along with the two English musicians Jaz Coleman and Nigel Kennedy, assisted by the same orchestra of this cd. Which, if you will, represents an act of enormous esteem for the duo who dared to challenge one of the greatest myths of rock, holding their ground excellently. If this were really the case, in my humble opinion, this would be one of the 2007 events ABSOLUTELY not to be missed!