 Rares sont les bassistes de jazz qui transgressent les frontières en allant au-delà des limites de leur instrument. Seuls les plus virtuoses d’entre eux sont allés à la recherche des sonorités nouvelles offertes par le violoncelle. Le jeune violoncelliste Valentin Radutiu inverse les rôles et démontre à quel point cet instrument se révèle pleinement dans tempo et rythme du jazz. Tantôt sonnant comme la traditionnelle contrebasse, parfois résonant comme une guitare ténor, les expérimentations sonores de ce jeune virtuose élargissent la gamme expressive de l’instrument par l’exploration constante de nouveaux sons. Le répertoire de ce très bel album est principalement issu du "Great American Songbook", inestimable patrimoine habilement complété ici par les standards du Cool Jazz de John Lewis, ou du maître incontestable de l’improvisation Bill Evans, dont les racines étaient profondément ancrées dans le répertoire classique. Point de révolution dans ce "Remembering the Rain", mais plutôt une évolution esthétique qui permet au violoncelle de sortir de ses attributions naturelles en prenant de nouvelles directions, plus ludique. Valentin Radutiu s’amuse de cette liberté, et il élargit magnifiquement la déjà très vaste palette émotionnelle de son jeu. Only a few, famous jazz bassists have ever gone beyond the limitations of their instruments and sought new opportunities on the cello. Now, the cellist Valentin Radutiu has turned the tables and shows how well the cello suits jazz – at times taking the role of the traditional string bass, at others, a resonant tenor guitar while at others, he gives its voice wings. The tendency to experiment with musical material is deep within this cellist; he is constantly exploring new sounds to expand the expressive range of his instrument. The repertoire of this extraordinary album comes mainly from the "Great American Songbook", supplementing that glorious heritage with standards by Cool Jazz purveyor John Lewis and master improviser Bill Evans, both of whom had their own anchors in classical music as well. Aiding and abetting this project, this "exceptional cellist" (as the Süddeutsche Zeitung described Valentin Radutiu), are two seasoned jazzmen, Benjamin Schaefer and Markus Rieck, who in their own right are among the most renowned cross-over artists in their field, and bring just the right mixture of risk and reserve. This team exhibits a lot of mutual respect and along with adding dash of wit and a light touch, the fusion works and the center holds! "Remembering the Rain" is not about creating a revolution or tearing down imaginary walls. Rather, it moves at a deliberate pace, allows the cello to step out of its classical provenance and stretch its “legs.” Because this music is not about confrontation, rather "Remembering the Rain" is an exciting opportunity for Valentin Radutius to take his immense skills in a new and different direction , and playfully engage with the music he loves and broaden his audiences’ emotional and aesthetic perspective in the process.
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