As promised in my May 5 post, here is the bottle of 1999 Reichsrat von Buhl Pfalz Riesling halbtrocken that was part of the promotion for Maria Schneider’s album, Live at the Jazz Standard: Days of Wine and Roses. The back label states (proudly with dangling modifier):
Schneider helped select the grapes for this wonderful, medium-dry Riesling which tastes of peaches and minerals. She is one of the leading composers and arrangers in jazz today. A protegé of Gil Evans, both her CD’s were nominated for Grammies.
As I recall, it was a good Riesling that lived up to its back-label description. It was one of the first Rieslings I tasted that made me understand that this variety need not be sickly sweet. Even so, having a band leader help select grapes is kind of like having a winemaker help select the trumpet section.
The "Days of Wine and Roses" is a wonderful song, but it carries a gloomy connotation from its connection to the movie by the same name, which carries a scolding message about the evils of alky-haul. Wine drinkers, it goes without saying, are far too civilized to fall prey to such corruption.
I can’t find a video of Schneider’s band playing this song, but you can listen to an audio version provided by 4shared. Saxophonists Tim Ries on soprano and Rich Perry on tenor are featured.
Plus, Azusa Pacific University’s Jazz Ensemble performs her arrangement in the video below.
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