Claude Bolling | Baroque and Blue

“Baroque and Blue” is the first movement of composer Claude Bolling‘s Suite for Flute and Jazz Piano Trio, written in 1973. A piano prodigy, Bolling began playing jazz professionally at age 14 and scored over 100 films. The piece was also a breakthrough for the legendary classical flutist Jean-Pierre Rampal. This suite was the first of a series of “crossover” compositions that synthesize Baroque and swing era jazz elements, and spent well over a year on the Billboard Top 40 chart. Bolling passed away at age 90 last December.

The movement follows a large scale ABA form — beginning in G major, modulating to the parallel minor at 1:54, and returning to G at 4:36.

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