This Halloween, Brooklyn Rider Releases Arrangement of Michael Jackson’s Thriller, Exclusively on iTunes
Brooklyn Rider – the innovative string quartet that NPR credits with “recreating the 300-year-old form of string quartet as a vital and creative 21st-century ensemble” – kicks off the Halloween weekend with the release of a special new track. Available today exclusively on iTunes, this finds the group taking on one of the most celebrated pop songs of the 1980s – Michael Jackson’s Thriller – in a new arrangement by Brooklyn Rider violinist Colin Jacobsen and remix by famed record producer Dennis Herring.
It is the contrasting talents of Jacobsen and Herring – best known for his work with Elvis Costello and Modest Mouse – that give the track its unique and original sound. The quartet also enlisted the help of singer/songwriter/violinist Christina Courtin, who closes the track with a reading of the iconic poem and reprise of the creepy cackle made famous in Jackson’s original by the legendary Vincent Price.
About the experience of creating this fun track, Brooklyn Rider violinist Johnny Gandelsman explains:
“The greatness of Michael Jackson’s original version owes so much to the amazing production. That’s why it seemed so fitting to take Colin’s great arrangement and work with a master like Dennis, and use a different style of production than we usually do. In that way, it feels like we are paying homage to the great work Quincy Jones and others did with Michael over 30 years ago.”
It was also on Halloween four years ago that Brooklyn Rider first performed an earlier arrangement of Thriller in costume at Carnegie’s Zankel Hall.
To purchase Thriller at iTunes, click here.
To stream Thriller at Apple Music, click here.
For high-resolution photos of Brooklyn Rider, click here.
www.youtube.com/user/BrooklynRiderVideo
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© 21C Media Group, October 2015