Masami Nakagawa – Four Seasons (CD)

In the 1970s, flutist Hubert Laws made a name for himself by interpreting themes from classical music. Japanese flutist Masami Nakagawa also uses classical melodies as the point of departure for improvisations with his small group, but his CD (released domestically in 1996) is largely acoustic and often straight-ahead jazz. Nakagawa divided works by Tchaikovsky, Faure, Mendelssohn, Bizet, Mozart and Schumann into four mini-suites that salute the four seasons. Some of the themes are more familiar than others, but all are enjoyable in their own way, and Nakagawa has an attractive style on flute, making this melodic release a pleasant surprise.