Cyrus Chestnut Trio - Moonlight Sonata: Swingin' Classics (2011)

Venus Records has recently been releasing many "jazzified classical music" albums, all performed by first-rate jazz musicians and singers. Now, Cyrus Chestnut has joined the list. An established name in the US, Chestnut grew up with gospel music and studied classical music before he became a full-fledged jazz pianist. He has recorded for Venus in other people's albums, such as Joel Frahm's Caminhos Cruzados and Marilyn Scott's Every Time We Say Goodbye, but this is his first album he recorded for Venus as a leader.
Chestnut decided to record with his current regular trio, with bassist Dezron Douglas and drummer Neal Smith. The approach and spirit here is pure jazz: driving, hard-boiled and dynamic. There is nothing soft or pretty that you might imagine when you hear the concept of "jazzified classical music." More accurate description would be "straight ahead jazz that happens to use classical melodies as improvisational springboards." Recommended!