Chicago Tribune hails Winterreise as one of the best jazz recordings of 2020!

Howard Reich of the Chicago Tribune hails Madre Vaca’s Winterreise as one of the best jazz records of 2020! Alongside Wynton Marsalis, Wayne Shorter, Dave Holland, Kenny Barron, and others, this is quite an honor!

“Franz Schubert’s “Winterreise” stands as a landmark of 19th century song cycles, performed by brave classical vocalists willing to probe its themes of sorrow and torment. The collective Madre Vaca here has conjured a jazz response or reinterpretation of several “Winterreise” movements, to enlightening effect. For without lyrics, arranger Benjamin Shorstein has created the best kind of jazz-meets-the-classics merger, the two worlds intermingling rather than crashing up against each other. In some spots, the musicians aptly bring elements of blues expression to the dark song cycle; in others, they ease into swing rhythm almost imperceptibly. In the end, they show not only the durability of Schubert’s score but the value of approaching it via a jazz-blues sensibility.”

-Howard Reich, Chicago Tribune