Jonathan Freeman-Attwood - A Bach Notebook for Trumpet - American Record Guide

English trumpeter Jonathan Freeman-Attwood has made five recordings, all consisting of arrangements (re-imaginings, he calls them). This one offers a bushel of Bach - ten pieces by J.S. and ten by other members of the Bach family. 

A ‘Rondo Allegretto' from a cello sonata by J.S.'s son Johann Christoph Friedrich Bach (1732-95) has a terrifically fast piano part that is played with gusto by Daniel-Ben Pienaar. The finale from a keyboard sonata by Carl Phillip Emanuel Bach (1714-88) is as quirky as expected. ‘La Joye', from an orchestral suite by J.S.'s second cousin Johann Bernhard Bach (1676-1749), will make you smile when arranger Pienaar plays much of the bass part on the piano's very lowest notes. A Sinfonia from the 1779 opera Amadis des Gaules, by Johann Christian Bach (1735-82), is both lively and expressive. And then there is the final work, the wonderful 'Sarabande' from J.S.'s Cello Suite No. 6. Although arranger Herbert Fryer added some notes and created a couple slightly unexpected harmonies, it's a lovely arrangement.

Daniel-Ben Pienaar is a fine arranger and excellent pianist. Jonathan Freeman-Attwood has a pure trumpet tone quality that has warmth...often bright.