VARIETIES

By Claudio Botelho
Due to a different way of working (provisory, it seems to me) of our customs, we have not received any CD for more than two months now. So, we’ve been forced to live with the ones acquired and received up to the beginning of the current year. Of course we have many things to listen and, here and there, there appears some surprise, some good music which had passed unnoticed in front of us.
Last Saturday, I rediscovered one treasurable CD which I had at home, last month, and had decided to not to keep with me. It was necessary our editor to call my attention, so that I could decide to give it a second trial. Following our phone call and some raving messages of his about it, we met and, together, appreciated it on that weekend.
He was right: there’s another great jazz pianist in the Italian scene (sorry, guys, but here we are in Italy again. I just can’t help…): his name is Dario Carnovale and he has debuted internationally through an album called “Exit for Three”. Along with his cohorts Youry Gouloubev (a classically trained Russian bass musician) and Luca Colussi on drums, he has done this excellent outing: a work released in 2010, with 13 ORIGINAL SONGS, 11 of them of his own pen and the two remaining of Gouloubev’s.
The recording is translucent and – the better part – the renderings are as varied as I have ever seen; a great feature, almost unheard of these days, as everybody, as a rule, trying their own songs, usually come out with one composition disguised as many, i.e.: in the long run, the author’s signature turns the songs boring. In general, I’d rather listen to albums with compositions of various authors, exactly to avoid boredom. As an unspoken rule, one-composer-albums tend to be poor songwise and the improvisational skills of the performer must be really strong to overcome this fragility. In other words: the jazz must be stupendous in order to balance the work.
In this case, the young pianist (with a little help from his bassist) has avoided this one-note samba with aplomb and, for this, must be heralded as one of the best of his breed to come to the international jazz scene.
Much more than not, I give up listening to a CD before it ends for its lack of appeal. Sometimes, I spot one, two or three good presentations, but, even though, I’m not able to reach its end. The common trend of choosing an up-tempo initial song many times ends in choosing a poor performance and the consequent first bad impression may be fatal!
Some choose fast tempo music just for the sake of its… tempo! The hurried listener, in front of this “false start”, may give up listening and, so, loses, many times, some good music which might be in the sequence. I’ve seen this with astonishing frequency and, if you want, I can name an excellent CD, which, to these ears, may cheat many: Antonio Faraò’s “Domi”. You can divide it in two parts: part one, the first and second songs; part two the following ones. The whole of the album is no less than magnificent, as much as I have always expected from this great pianist, but part one is definitely not on par with the second…
But, back to Carnovale: listen to this CD and witness what can be as well the rising of a new star.
For those who didn’t notice the already published review of this CD in these pages, here goes some additional info:

Dario Carnovale Trio
Exit For Three



Dario Carnovale (piano)
Yuri Goloubev (bass)
Luca Colussi (drums)
Release Date: 12/15/2010
Recorded at Artesuono Recording Studio, Cavalicco (Udine), Italy. 


Toots Thielemans with The Shirley Horn Trio
For My Lady



The rarefaction of novelties has forced us to go astern and to listen again to some oldies. Last Saturday, I tried Toots Thieleman’s “For my Lady”, a CD he made with the much missed Shirley Horn. This time, save for one song, she was just accompanying that master in her unmistakably way. To listen, together, the most “harmonic” harmonist extant backed by that diva was a delight. In this case, “ no news”(CD’s) was “good news”…


Hal Galper Trio
Trip The Light Fantastic



Hal Galper Trio latest “Trip the Light Fantastic” sports a not so new trend he’s been following lately: perfunctory promenades through the music themes, followed by some very diffuse improvisations. Gone are the days of his very incisive and vigorous playing, now succeeded by some very loose improvisations, lending pale colors to his renderings. I miss a lot his good old days. A pity…



I’m a great fan of Stefano Bollani. What has he been doing lately? I’ve been missing works like his “Stone in the Water”, “Gleda”, “Concertone” and others of the genre. His “Big band!” album was a disappointment for me…



I also miss a lot the Criss Cross days of Bill Charlap. Since he left that company, the adventurousness he used to have left him and he has become a sort of “plain Jane” pianist. His “Souvenir” (1995) and “Distant Star”(1997) remain unchallenged by anything he has done afterwards. In this sense, Charlap is, today, a “distant star”… Unbelievable…

Bernardo Sassetti 1970 - 2012

By RTP
Bernardo Sassetti morreu, aos 41 anos. O corpo foi encontrado pela Polícia Marítima, na quinta-feira, na zona do Abano, no Guincho.
O pianista e compositor tinha cancelado recentemente um espetáculo na Culturgest por motivos de saúde, mas, de acordo com o semanário Expresso, Bernardo Sassetti terá morrido depois de cair acidentalmente de uma falésia na zona de Cascais, onde se encontrava a tirar fotografias. Entretanto, esta informação foi confirmada à agência Lusa pelo pianista Mário Laginha.
Nascido em Lisboa a 24 de junho de 1970, Bernardo Sassetti era bisneto do antigo Presidente da República Sidónio Pais. Casado com a atriz Beatriz Batarda, Sassetti tinha duas filhas.
O site da Clean Feed, a sua editora, refere que Bernardo Sassetti foi influenciado por Bill Evans e Keith Jarrett. Com formação clássica desde os nove anos, Sassetti acaba por destacar-se aos 18 anos no campo do jazz, com o Quarteto de Carlos Martins e o Moreiras Jazztet.
Bernardo Sassetti viria a atrair atenções internacionais com a composição de bandas sonoras para cinema, participando na longa-metragem “O Talentoso Mr. Ripley”, de Anthony Minghella. Assinou ainda bandas sonoras de filmes portugueses como “Alice”, de Marco Martins, “Um Amor de Perdição”, de Mário Barroso, ou “A costa dos Murmúrios”, de Margarida Cardoso.
“Nocturno”, o seu disco de 2002, foi distinguido com o Prémio Carlos Paredes. Viria ainda a gravar “Índigo” e “Livre”. Ao longo do seu percurso musical, Sassetti trabalhou com músicos jazz, do fado, do pop rock e do hip hop.
Em 2010, Bernardo Sassetti juntou-se a Carlos do Carmo para fazer um trabalho inédito, que reúne músicas nunca antes cantadas, tocadas ou gravadas por qualquer um dos dois. Entre os compositores escolhidos para este disco estavam José Afonso, Sérgio Godinho, Fausto, Rui Veloso, Violeta Parra, Léo Ferré e Jacques Brel. O álbum incluía ainda um original de Sassetti com poema original de Mário Cláudio. No site da editora Universal é recordada uma apresentação deste disco na RTP.
Os últimos trabalhos de Sassetti foram uma participação no disco “Mútuo Consentimento”, de Sérgio Godinho, e “3 Pianos”, com Mário Laginha e Pedro Burmester.

1 Sem 2012 - Part Twenty

Tõnu Naissoo Trio
My Back Pages



By EastWind
Performed by:

Tõnu Naissoo (piano)
Taavo Remmel (bass)
Ahto Abner (drums)

Release Date: 08/26/2011 

The latest piano trio CD from Atelier Sawano features Tonu Naissoo, the extraordinary Estonian pianist who has become a household name in Japan thanks to the label's past efforts. Naisso's ninth CD features brilliant renditions of pop tunes (the title track by Bob Dylan, "You've Got A Friend" by Carole King), standards and original compositions.
The trio seems to sound more powerful, propulsive and creative as they gain confidence over the years. A very special piano trio album! Recommended!


Pier Paolo Pozzi Quartet
Je Volais Je Le Jure - Tribute To Jacques Brel

By Karima Romdane

Péniche L'Improviste, 23 mars 2012 tarif préférentiel

L'Improviste est un espace convivial de diffusion, de découverte et de création autour du jazz. Tout fraîchement arrivée sur le bassin de la Villette, la péniche vous offre de découvrir le vendredi 23 mars à 21h, Pier Paolo Pozzi Quartet dans un hommage à Jacques Brel.
« Ce nouveau projet est né d’un travail collectif d’arrangements, dont l’ ambition finale était de restituer autant que possible, l’intensité de l’interprétation de Jacques Brel, en utilisant les moyens à notre disposition : la tessiture harmonique et rythmique qui dans le jazz contemporain jouissent d’une plus grande liberté. C’est ainsi qu’est né notre hommage à Jacques Brel. J’ai la nette impression , qu’au delà des qualités techniques de chacun, transparaît dans ce disque, au moins en partie, la charge émotive que nous avions éprouvée, la gorge serrée et les larmes aux yeux à l’écoute de ses chansons. » Pier Paolo Pozzi
Pier Paolo Pozzi : Batteur, compositeur, arrangeur. Né à Varese en 1964. En 1997, il crée le Pier Paolo Pozzi Quartet avec Paolo Fresu trompette, Fabio Zeppetella guitare, Jean-Jacques Avenel contrebasse, groupe avec lequel il enregistre son premier disque comme leader « Greetings from... Challenge Records 2000. Nombreuses sont les collaborations comme session-man dans différentes formations: Daniel Mille, Jean-Jacques Avenel, Pierre de Bethmann, Michel Graillier, Jean-Loup Longnon, Richard Clemens, Gimmy Gourley, Denis Le Loup, Barend Midelhoff (CD - Barend Middelhoff Quintet « City lines » B. Middelhoff sax, Denis Leloup trombone, Olivier Ker Ourio armonica, Stephane Kerecki contrebasse Challenge Records 2001), Olivier Ker Ourio, Gilda Solve (CD - Gilda Solve « the best is yet to come » G. Solve voix, Patrice Galas, Marc Fosset Gus Nemeth ) Paula West, Giovanni Mirabassi, Patrice Galas (CD - Patrice GALAS "A time for jazz trios" – P. Galas piano, Gus Nemeth, Brian Hurley,), Harold Singer, Daniel Mille, Joe Chindamo, Joshua Redman et d’autres.
Avec : Sébastien Jarrousse : saxophone, Yoni Zelnik : contrebasse, Pier Paolo Pozzi : batterie, Rémy Decormeille : piano



Guido Santoni, Danilo Gallo, U.T. Gandhi

Inside A Dream




By EastWind
Guido Santoni (piano)
Danilo Gallo (bass)
U.T. Gandhi (drums)
 Italian pianist Guido Santoni was classically trained but gravitated towards jazz after he encountered electric jazz of Miles Davis and Weather Report in the 1970s. He began his professional career in the 1990s playing a wide spectrum of jazz as well as soul music.
Over time and with experience, he has become a more improvisational acoustic piano player whose impressionistic and sonorous style and solid technique are used to create music from the inside, inspired by his emotions and feelings. Inside A Dream is Santoni's debut CD from Italy's hot new independent label Artesuono, which has become famous among Japanese audiophiles for the great sound produced by producer and engineer Stefano Amerio in his own studio equipped with a Fazzioli piano.
Santoni had never met his bandmates (bassist Danilo Gallo and drummer U.T. Gandhi) before he went into the studio, and without any rehearsal they started to make music. The program consists entirely of Santoni's originals plus two short improvisational pieces. The music is impressionistic, lyrical, and often melancholic, reminiscent of the Enrico Pieranunzi trio. The beautiful collective improvisation -- musical conversations and spontaneous creation -- by the three musicians and superb sonics make this CD special.
Recorded by Stefano Amerio at Artesuono Recording Studios, Cavalicco, Italy.

Dario Carnovale Trio

Exit For Three




By EastWind
Dario Carnovale (piano)
Yuri Goloubev (bass)
Luca Colussi (drums)

Release Date: 12/15/2010
 This is a brilliant international debut of Dario Carnovale, extraordinarily talented young Sicilian pianist. His tough and highly completed pianism has already brought a great applause and excellent reviews, prompting one reviewer to call him "one of the greatest surprise after Stefano Bollani."
Born in 1979, Carnovale studied composition, percussion and piano at Conservatory of Palermo. He began his career by playing in various orchestras but later turned to jazz and studied with Enrico Rava, Franco D'Andrea and Stefano Battaglia.
On his second CD as a leader, Carnovale is accompanied by outstanding Russian bassist Yuri Goloubev, who also began his career as a classical double-bass player (and a great one at that), and drummer Luca Colussi.
The proram consists entirely of original compositions (11 by Carnovale and two by Goloubev) which are lyrical, pensive and muscular. The sound quality of the CD, recorded at Artesuono Studio known for its many recordings for ECM, is also superb. A wonderful trio album by a major talent in Europe!
Recorded at Artesuono Recording Studio, Cavalicco (Udine), Italy.

Leszek Mozdzer

Komeda




By Bruce Lindsay at AllAboutJazz
Krzysztof Komeda, the Polish musician and composer who died, age 38, in 1969, was a key figure in the emergence of European jazz, and remains a major source of inspiration for musicians across the continent. On Komeda, his ACT solo album debut, pianist Leszek Możdżer pays his own beautifully crafted tribute to his fellow countryman.
Despite his early death, Komeda's body of work is extensive and influential—showing that it was possible to take the ideas and themes of American jazz and create something that had its own uniquely Old World atmosphere. In the 21st century trumpeter Tomasz Stańko is probably the best-known exponent of Komeda's work, while the New York based Komeda Project, led by expat Polish musicians Andrzej Winnicki and Krzysztof Medyna, flies the flag for Komeda in the New World.
Możdżer is a classically-trained pianist, born in Gdansk, who discovered jazz as an 18 year-old and now moves comfortably between the classical concert stage and jazz performance, garnering numerous awards along the way. He's played with Stańko and has recorded with bassist Lars Danielsson. His classical background strongly influences the sound of Komeda—especially on the opening bars of "Svantetic," where he introduces the tune with some sparklingly delicate upper register flourishes.
Many of Komeda's best-known compositions were written for Roman Polanski movies such as Rosemary's Baby (1968) or Knife In The Water (1962), films whose air of suspense and fear was heightened by the tension and darkness in Komeda's music. While Możdżer's choice of compositions includes some of this music, he focuses firmly on the more lyrical and romantic side of Komeda's work. Still, "Sleep Safe And Warm," the lullaby from Rosemary's Baby, still retains some of that darkness—however beautiful the melody may be—while"Cherry" finds Możdżer developing a funkier, more aggressive, groove, and "Crazy Girl" and "Moja Ballada" both have an edgier tone.
Komeda's cover art is a piece by German artist Martin Noël. Its soft pastel tones are perhaps a little more restrained than the usual ACT cover images, but its calm and gentle beauty perfectly reflects the restrained loveliness of Możdżer's playing and Komeda's writing. ACT's selection of solo piano albums has another excellent addition in Komeda.
Track Listing:

Svantetic; Sleep Safe And Warm; Ballad for Dernt; The Law And The Fist; Nighttime, Daytime Requiem; Cherry; Crazy Girl; Moja Ballada.

Personnel: Leszek Możdżer: piano.

1 Sem 2012 - Part Nineteen

Jeff Hamilton Trio

Sparkle




by Rick Anderson
Here is the genius of drummer and composer Jeff Hamilton: in the middle of a program that consists almost entirely of standards like "Laura" and "A Sleepin' Bee" and "Too Marvelous for Words," he takes his trio through a seven-minute version of Stephen Bishop's 1970s schlock-pop hit "On and On." And he turns it into a quiet, softly polished gem of a jazz ballad by doing two things: having pianist Tamir Hendelman keep the melodic elaborations minimal (ensuring that the occasional bluesy flourishes will be all the more effective) and playing almost all of his accompaniment on the tom-toms and on the bells of his ride cymbals. It's the drumming that makes the tune, but unless you pay close attention you won't even notice it. That's what a genius drummer does. Hamilton is also a gifted writer, as the thrilling blues-bop excursion "Red Sparkle" demonstrates, and a very fine interpreter of jazz classics. His arrangement of the Ray Brown composition "I Know You Oh So Well" (which features unusually lovely arco bass playing by Christoph Luty) and a hard-swinging version of "Too Marvelous for Words" are both highlights, and his take on Thelonious Monk's "Bye-Ya" is very interesting: here he simultaneously squares up and dislocates the rhythms of Monk's Carribbean-flavored composition, creating a version that may not be completely successful but is nevertheless lots of fun -- and it's always good to hear someone with the confidence to make a Monk tune his own. Fans of contemporary straight-ahead jazz won't be disappointed.

Gregory Porter

Be Good




by Chris Nickson
Gregory Porter's sophomore effort confirms the talent that was so apparent on his debut. He's developed greater technique and subtlety in his impressive singing. The '70s soul is still quite apparent in his voice, with shades of Donny Hathaway and Bill Withers, but he's also the vocal heir to Nat King Cole. He's becoming a major talent, not just as a singer but also as a composer, with a unique, elliptical style, both for melodies and lyrics, which is quite evident when held up against the covers here. Porter is also acutely aware of dynamics, able to move smoothly from the softness of "Imitation of Life" to the almost atonality of the raucous "Bling Bling," which also features some excellent scat singing. His own material isn't immediately memorable, but insinuates itself into the brain after a few hearings, sophisticated and often beautiful. He keeps his soul/blues credentials alive with a version of "Work Song" that allows him to go full-throated against some honking sax. To finish, there's an a cappella version of "God Bless the Child," a song forever associated with Billie Holiday. It's a daring move, and one that works as it showcases the tenderness in his voice, with an almost liquid quality in the singing, the emotions hinted at rather than laid out. It's a superb climax to a disc that should certainly help Porter's star rise even further. 

Matt Slocum

After The Storm

By Bill Milkowski at JazzTimes
As a followup to his outstanding debut as a leader, Portraits, drummer-composer Matt Slocum settles into a rare telepathy with pianist Gerald Clayton and bassist Massimo Biolcati on this enchanting trio outing. A tastefully polyrhythmic drummer with a penchant for melodicism on the kit (as he demonstrates with mallets on the pensive opener “Jacaranda”), Slocum establishes an intimate, interactive vibe with his mates on these nine tracks. They swing blithely through “The Catalyst,” then turn in walking-on-eggshells renditions of “It’s Easy to Remember” and the elegant title track. “Passaic” is a loose three-way conversation, while their politely swinging take on Cole Porter’s “Everything I Love” is strictly old-school. Other highlights include a brilliant arrangement of Maurice Ravel’s “La Vallee des Cloches” and Slocum’s urgently burning closer, “Pete’s Place.”

Andrea Ferrario Quartet

The Mask




By Blackenin' Alice
Cari ascoltatori di RadioEmiliaRomagna stiamo ascoltando il brano dal titolo Blackenin' tratto dall’ultimo cd del Andrea Ferrario Quartet.
Andrea Ferrario è laureato in filosofia e in discipline musicali a indirizzo jazz con lode. Ha studiato presso la Scuola Civica di Jazz di Milano e ha partecipato ai seminari estivi di Siena Jazz e di Nuoro Jazz. Con la Jazz Band della scuola ha partecipato a innumerevoli concerti con ospiti come Max Roach, Kenny Barron, Eddie Daniels , Paolo Fresu, Enrico Pierannunzi. al quintetto di Enrico Rava.
Inoltre ha seguito i corsi di perfezionamento tenuti da Dave Liebman, Steve Grossman, Bobby Watson, Wes Anderson, Paolo Fresu, Buster Williams e Ben Riley.
Ha fatto parte della sezione sassofoni della Civica Jazz Band di Milano, con cui ha svolto diversi concerti e rassegne in collaborazione con l'Orchestra Sinfonica "G. Verdi" di Milano e numerosi ospiti di fama internazionale( tra cui Max Roach, Kenny Barron, Eddie Daniels, David Murray, Paolo Fresu, Antonio Faraò, Franco Ambrosetti, Enrico Pieranunzi, Franco Cerri, Mauro Negri).
Ha suonato nel Jazz Mirror Saxophone Quartet. Ha collaborato a un progetto con l’Orchestra Sinfonica Fondazione Toscanini di Parma, diretta dal M° Paolo Silvestri, associata al quintetto di Enrico Rava.
Andrea Ferrario Quartet è un progetto con il quale nel 2006 realizza il cd "Volo Notturno" (etichetta J-Digital). Con il quartetto composto da Mauro Gallo, Giannicola Spezzigu e Marcello Molinari ha inciso nel 2011 il Cd "The Mask" per la Caligola Records che porta la prefazione di Paolo Fresu e Piero Odorici.
Dirige e scrive gli arrangiamenti per la Bidibop Big Band, orchestra latin-jazz di 18 elementi, con la quale nel 2009 ha realizzato il cd "Verso Sud".
Dal 2005 fa parte della band di Andrea Mingardi, con cui ha partecipato a molti festival.
Ha partecipato al "Fenice Day 2009" con Andrea Mingardi, Katia Ricciarelli e l'Orchestra del Teatro La Fenice di Venezia.
Ha collaborato con Loretta Goggi e i cantautori Claudio Lolli (cd "La Scoperta dell'America", tour 2006) e Mirco Menna (cd "Ecco").
Durante gli anni 2000 ha suonato nelle fila di diverse formazioni jazz: BLUE MIDNIGHT ORCHESTRA (swing degli anni ’30 e ’40), THE SWINGERS ORCHESTRA (Count Basie, Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald e altri), ORCHESTRA SPAZIALE, VILLAGE BIG BAND e la DAMS JAZZ ORCHESTRA. Collabora con Vincenzo Serra e le Edizioni Musicante in veste di compositore.
Cari ascoltatori di RadioEmiliaRomagna entriamo ora nel vivo della musica del Andrea Ferrario Quartet ascoltando il brano The Mask che da il titolo al cd.

L.Necciari,A.Cohen,M.Addabbo,F.Petreni

Progetto Original

By Jazz&More
Avishai Cohen is a leading figure on the international jazz scene and one of the most sought-after players oh his generation.This CD, titled "original project" shows a collaboration between a close-knit Italian trio and flighty Israeli-American trumpet player. Jazz last frontier, compositions of great originality. this cd is taking jazz in new direction, Though deeply rooted in tradition yet able to interpret and define new horizons. Classic example of brilliant artistic collaboration between new and old world according according to a custom of the italian label Abeat. The evocative power of the compositions, the class of interpreters, the artistic sensibility and the intensity of expression offer a very compelling experience of listening.

Artisti:
Necciari Luca - doublebass
Cohen Avishai - trumpet
Matteo Addabbo - piano
Petreni Francesco - drums