Taped in the splendidly baroque Market Square of Leipzig, with an enormous, tightly packed audience, this concert is dedicated to the proposition that the music of Bach "is still vital, is still contemporary, and is still very much universal." It proves its point resoundingly in one of the most enjoyable crossover programs ever recorded. A dazzling variety of performers, each with a distinctive style, demonstrates that the unique charm of Bach's music comes through in any treatment so far imagined. "It has this magical quality about it," says an emcee, "that just makes it swing." His point is demonstrated not only in traditional orchestral performances by the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra and soloists, but in arrangements that substitute brass instruments and saxophones for violins or organ pipes, in three different styles of scat-singing to Bach's melodies (most beautifully Bobby McFerrin's), and in arrangements for Jacques Loussier's jazz trio and the postmodern Turtle Island String Quartet. Through it all, Bach triumphs! --Joe McLellan
