May 2008

Ted Kooshian
Ted Kooshian’s Standard Orbit Quartet
Summit

By Forrest Dylan Bryant

Taking a merry spin through pop culture, pianist Ted Kooshian jazzes classic TV and cartoon themes as well as popular tunes by Led Zeppelin, the Police and Peter Gabriel. This sounds like a novelty gimmick—really, there’s only so much one can do with title music from The Simpsons—but Kooshian finds surprising creative potential lurking beneath the surface of these simple ditties. Who knew that Captain Kangaroo concealed such intriguing rhythms and propulsive interplay, or that Buffy’s vampire slaying offered killer basslines and harmonies, too?