I was driving to work yesterday morning, listening to the local jazz
station (WBGO). At a break in the music, the DJ said something
like,"That was Roberta Piket playing Johnny Mandel's 'A Time for Love'
from her album 'Speak, Memory.'"
I was sure it couldn't be a coincidence, and when I got to my office I
found her Website, and it turns out that she has written a piece
setting five of VNs poems to music. You can find slightly more
information here (http://www.robertajazz.com/nabokov.html).
That evening I went to hear her play with her trio at the Hotel
Kitano. She didn't sing any of the poems (she was just getting over a
bad cold), but she played some standards ("If I Loved You," "So In
Love") and some originals. It's not quite straight-ahead jazz. She
uses changing time signatures and measure groupings (5-bar phrases) and
occasional odd reharmonizations.
