Grover Washington's sudden death at the age of 56 in December 1999 was a shock to all jazz lovers. In particular, he helped shape the amalgamation of jazz with rhythm & blues. With his latest album "Aria" he combined classical music (smoothly) with jazz in the usual way. A hitherto unfulfilled wish, which for him closed the circle again with classical musical studies in his youth. "Aria" is a
… crossover of melodic arias by mainly Puccini (6), but also Bizet (2) and others (4). In the arias the voice is replaced by his palette of saxophones: alto, soprano, tenor and baritone. For the recordings he was assisted by Ron Carter on bass, Billy Childs on piano and the St. Luke's Orchestra conducted by Robert Freedman. A worthy conclusion to his great career. (R.more