Overview

Well-aware of the massive popularity of the Monster Hunter series in Japan, Capcom has produced a wealth of arranged albums dedicated to the series in recent years, spanning electronic remix collections, orchestral concert recordings, and even two music box discs. With Monster Hunter Swing -Big Band Jazz Arrange-, they treated series' orchestral favourites with yet another genre of music. To do so, they hired relative unknown Zac Zinger to arrange and implement the album. Best known as the saxophonist for the Video Game Orchestra, the Berklee graduate has played for Royal Caribbean shows and scored independent films. But can he cope with such a major gig so early in his career?

Body

Capcom's decision to hire Zac Zinger sounds bizarre on paper, but it actually worked out quite well. As both a video game enthusiast and jazz professional, the artist is able to bring out exactly what was required for such an album. The opening rendition of the series' main theme "Proof of a Hero" features great big band writing: whether the dense, rousing renditions of the main theme, the lively, liberal trumpet and piano solos, or the slow, muted lounge-style interlude, everything is tight and entertaining. What's more, it incorporates a clear video game influence despite having an authentic jazz sound, with its focus on the fanfare-like melody and its playful, exploratory writing. It's everything one could want from a Monster Hunter jazz arrange. Well, almost...

It's greatly unfortunate that Zinger was not given the budget to record the album with a big band for tracks like these. Contrary to the album's title, the majority of the album features sampled instruments. Whether the soloing trumpets of "Sparkling Blue Light / Zinogre", the jamming pianos of "Brave Icon ~ Brachydios", or the walking bass and rolling snares featured throughout the album, they're always synthesized. While the samples tend to be high-quality, they sometimes have a tinny quality and, more importantly, lack the life and soul of human instrumentalists. Zinger took it on himself to record the woodwind parts for the album — leading to a strong focus on saxophone performances — and also hired guest musicians on a few tracks. However, the big band tutti still suffer from the lack of human interactions that is essential to all jazz, nay all band, performances.

The most emotional tracks on the album tend to stray away from the big band sound in favour of more intimate performances. For fan favourite "Pokke Village Theme", Zinger slows things down and places the focus on his soprano saxophone performance. He ensures that the melody not only sounds convincing on this instrument, but also highly evocative, while building on it sensitively through a series of improvisations. The format is a little tacky — not helped by the 90s-styled pop backing — but it will still have a widespread appeal. "Seeking the Secret Hot Spring" from Monster Hunter Portable 3rd also verges into smooth jazz territory, but is lifted by the contrast of the airy flute passages and watery piano underlay. A further highlight is "Empress of Flame", a soft, silky piece with an intentionally retro 1980s influence.

Perhaps the most fun additions here are based on "Tremble of the Sea and Land" and "Scat Cat Fever". The former transforms the rigid, aggressive orchestral battle theme into a free-spirited, funk-tinged jazz improvisation. The trumpet leads are treated in a completely different way from the original, but it surprisingly works. "Scat Cat Fever" meanwhile takes a suitably light-hearted approach with lively tutti and frivolous improvisations, culminating in even some electric guitar work. The pastiche sound also works, given the nature of the gimmicky original. It's another track that demonstrates Zinger really considered the source material while arranging this album. He concludes with a rendition of Monster Hunter 3's main theme that, while hardly as sweeping as the original, proves lovely and nostalgic in its own right.

Summary

Monster Hunter Swing -Big Band Jazz Arrange- was evidently written on a budget. After all, Capcom hired a relative amateur and didn't even finance a big band performance. Thankfully, Zac Zinger put a lot of work into ensuring the final result would still be high-quality. He places strong emphasis on the melodies and moods of the original, while convincingly them treating them with high-quality jazz work. The implementation is far from perfect, but it shouldn't stop one from enjoying the album.