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Road to Chopin album cover

Album guide

Road to Chopin

Makoto Ozone

Composer
Chopin
Released
2010
Label
Universal Jazz
Forces
Piano
Personnel
Makoto Ozone piano, with Anna Maria Jopek vocals on tracks 1 and 12 and Grégoire Maret harmonica on tracks 4 and 7

Ozone initially refused the invitation to record Chopin: to a jazz pianist, the written ornaments occupied the very space he would normally claim for improvisation.

Singer Anna Maria Jopek changed his mind by explaining Chopin’s exile and Poland’s history of invasion; Ozone suddenly heard the longing for a lost homeland as something akin to the blues.

That encounter gave the album its modest title: not Ozone Plays Chopin, but Road to Chopin.

Hear both

The classical side contains only the source pieces used on the album, in album order. The jazz side presents the complete album whenever a dependable copy can be embedded.

The originalsChopin · classical source works

The listening queues above follow the same order. The classical player omits tracks that are not based on a classical original.

Jazzed upMakoto Ozone · 2010
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Source works

The album’s complete track listing, with each classical source identified and original compositions marked plainly.

  1. Nie Ma Czego Trzeba - Song No. 13 Op. 74 (Dumka)17 Polish Songs, Op. 74: No. 13, “Nie ma czego trzeba”
  2. Mazurka No. 13 Op. 17-4Mazurka in A minor, Op. 17 No. 4
  3. Valse No. 6 “Petit chien”Waltz in D-flat major, Op. 64 No. 1 “Minute”
  4. Prelude No. 4 In E minorPrelude in E minor, Op. 28 No. 4
  5. Etude No. 4 Op. 10-4Étude in C-sharp minor, Op. 10 No. 4
  6. Improvisation From Prelude No. 15 Op. 28-15Prelude in D-flat major, Op. 28 No. 15 “Raindrop”
  7. Improvisation from Mazurka No. 24 Op. 33-3Mazurka in C major, Op. 33 No. 3
  8. Valse No.7 Op. 64-2Waltz in C-sharp minor, Op. 64 No. 2
  9. Mazurka No. 40 Op. 63-2Mazurka in F minor, Op. 63 No. 2
  10. Polonaise No. 3 Op. 40-1 “Militaire”Polonaise in A major, Op. 40 No. 1 “Military”
  11. Nocturn No. 2 Op. 9-2Nocturne in E-flat major, Op. 9 No. 2
  12. Mazurka C Sharp Minor No. 2 Op. 6Mazurka in C-sharp minor, Op. 6 No. 2, in a medley with a traditional Polish kujawiak