BFT 26 answers thread

[John B]

My goal in compiling this test was to highlight a specific non-U.S. "scene." Track #1 inspired me to choose Italy. I was listening to this track and was blown away (again) by the humor (not as wacky as the Dutch), the passion, the improvisation and the composition contained therein. In my opinion, the Italian jazz scene combines a healthy respect for " the tradition" while always expanding the vocabulary of jazz. Traditional European folk music, avant-garde, swing, be-bop, funk, it's all here, being played by fantastic musicians whose names are not as familar as they should be to most.

I'm not sure if it is a function of the limited size of my Italian jazz collection or if it is inherent in the small size of the country, but many musicians pop up on multiple tracks, as leaders and as sidemen on each others recordings.

I hope you all had as much fun listening to this disc as I did compiling it. And now, on to the answers.

Edited June 28, 2005 by John B

[John B]

1. Italian Instabile Orchestra – “Scarlattina” Litania Sibilante (Enja)

Eugenio Colombo, Gianluigi Trovesi, Carlo Actis Dato, Daniele Cavallanti, Mario Schiano - reeds

Guido Mazzon, Alberto Mandarini, Pino Minafra trumpets

Giancarlo Schiaffini, Sebi Tramontana, Lauro Rossi trombones

Martin Mayes french horn

Renato Geremia violin

Paolo Damiani cello

Umberto Petrin piano

Giovanni Maier bass

Tiziano Tononi, Vincenzo Mazzone drums

Guests: Enrico Rava trumpet

Antonello Salis accordion

2. Aldo Romano Quartet – “T’ho voluto bene” Canzoni (Enja)

Aldo Romano – drums

Franco D’Andrea – piano

Paolo Fresu – trumpet

Furio Di Castri – bass

Edited June 28, 2005 by John B

[John B]

3. Gianni Gebbia – “Magician” Arcana Major / Sonic Tarots Session (Rastascan)

Gianni Gebbia – alto and Eb sopranino saxophone

4. Mauro Negri / Zlotko Kaučič – “Sqaurci 5” Squarci (Splasc(h))

Mauro Negri – alto saxophone, clarinet

Zlatko Kaučič – drums, percussion

Edited June 28, 2005 by John B

[John B]

5. Enrico Fazio Quintet – “Gardel” Euphoria (Splasc(h))

Alberto Mandarini – trumpet

Francesco Aroni Vigone – alto and soprano saxes

Carlo Actis Dato – tenor and baritone saxes, bass clarinet

Enrico Fazio – acoustic bass

Franca Silveri – voice

Fiorenzo Sordini - drums

6. Michel Godard – “Una Serenita” Castel del Monte (Enja)

Michel Godard – tuba, serpent

Pino Minafra – trumpet, flugelhorn

Gianluigi Trovesi – alto saxophone, clarinet, bass clarinet

Jean-Louis Matinier – accordion

Renaud Garcia-Fons – bass

Pierre Favre – drums, percussion

Lucilla Galeazzi – vocal

Linda Bsiri – vocal, trumpet marin

Edited June 28, 2005 by John B

[John B]

7. Pino Minafra – “A Margherita” Sudori (Victo)

Lauro Rossi – trombone, percussion, vocals

Giorgio Occhipinti – piano, synthesizer, percussion, vocals

Pino Minafra – trumpet, prepared trumpet, bugle, didjeridoo, speaking pipe, whistle, ocarina, percussion, vocals

Daniele Patumi – double bass, vocals

Carlo Actis Dato – tenor and baritone saxophone, percussion, vocals

Vincenzo Mazzone – drums, percussion

8. Mauro Negri – “3 3 3” So Funky (Splasc(h))

Mauro Negri – clarinet

Fabrizio Meloni – clarinet

Bebo Ferra – guitar

Fiorenzo Delegà – bass

Christian Meyer – drums

Edited June 28, 2005 by John B

[John B]

9. Tiziano Tononi – “Attica Blues” We Did It, We Did It (Splasc(h))

Herb Robertson – trumpet

Daniele Cavallanti – baritone sax

Renato Geremia – alto sax

Riccardo Luppi – piccolo flute

Beppe Caruso – trombone, tuba

Alberto Tacchini – Fender Rhodes

Roberto Cecchetto – electric guitar

Tito Mangialajo – acoustic bass

Victor Beard – recitation

Tiziano Tononi – drums, congas

Edited June 28, 2005 by John B

[John B]

10. Gianluigi Trovesi Otteto – “Ramble” Fugace (ECM)

Gianluigi Trovesi, alto saxophone, piccolo, alto clarinets

Beppe Caruso, trombone

Massimo Greco, trumpet, electronics

Marco Remondini, violoncello, electronics

Roberto Bonati, double-bass

Marco Micheli, double-bass, electric bass

Fulvio Maras, percussion, electronics

Vittorio Marinoni, drums.

11. Steffano Battaglia / Tony Oxley – “RTA” Explore (Splasc(h))

Steffano Battaglia – piano, percussion, prepared piano

Tony Oxley - drums

Edited June 28, 2005 by John B

[catesta]

Nice job, John.

[Man with the Golden Arm]

salute!

[tooter]

Thanks again, John, for a BFT that took me to places I have never been to before -the main object. It's good to see all the album covers too - they do add something.

The personnel on 2. is the same as on the album "Non Dimenticar" I see so maybe they used the same take for the title track. Anyway, the mystery about the tune is cleared up - two titles, as suspected. I suppose the name changed when the lyric was added? Nice to get something almost right although I was blundering about in the dark for everything else.

[king ubu]

music to clean the house by?

Fine job, John! Thanks for this nice compilation! The Tononi is on my list since two years or even longer, the Negris and Fazio shall be added, so will the Instabile (I have most of their other stuff, but not this one).

[king ubu]

music to ahem... drive (???) your scooter by?

[John B]

I'll try to add my comments as the day goes along. I'll start out of order, with track #9, which many people felt disrupted the flow of the disc. We Did It, We Did It! is a 3cd set which is mainly a tribute to Rahsaan Roland Kirk. The group tackles tracks by Archie Shepp, Mingus and Bob Marley among others, too. My first inclination was to choose "The Inflated Tear, " by Kirk, butI went with the Shepp to throw people off of the (to my mind) too obvious "Italian jazz" theme. Also, I enjoy this track a lot more than most people seemed to. It gets really nice and funky, which isn't something I've come across all too often in Italian (or European) jazz.

[Clunky]

6. Michel Godard – “Una Serenita” Castel del Monte (Enja)

Michel Godard – tuba, serpent

Pino Minafra – trumpet, flugelhorn

Gianluigi Trovesi – alto saxophone, clarinet, bass clarinet

Jean-Louis Matinier – accordion

Renaud Garcia-Fons – bass

Pierre Favre – drums, percussion

Lucilla Galeazzi – vocal

Linda Bsiri – vocal, trumpet marin

←

this one has really grown on me and is perhaps the one I'd most likely to check out in full.. thanks

[king ubu]

6. Michel Godard – “Una Serenita” Castel del Monte (Enja)

Michel Godard – tuba, serpent

Pino Minafra – trumpet, flugelhorn

Gianluigi Trovesi – alto saxophone, clarinet, bass clarinet

Jean-Louis Matinier – accordion

Renaud Garcia-Fons – bass

Pierre Favre – drums, percussion

Lucilla Galeazzi – vocal

Linda Bsiri – vocal, trumpet marin

←

this one has really grown on me and is perhaps the one I'd most likely to check out in full.. thanks

←

You should do so! It's a beautiful one!

[Д.Д.]

6. Michel Godard – “Una Serenita” Castel del Monte (Enja)

Michel Godard – tuba, serpent

Pino Minafra – trumpet, flugelhorn

Gianluigi Trovesi – alto saxophone, clarinet, bass clarinet

Jean-Louis Matinier – accordion

Renaud Garcia-Fons – bass

Pierre Favre – drums, percussion

Lucilla Galeazzi – vocal

Linda Bsiri – vocal, trumpet marin

←

this one has really grown on me and is perhaps the one I'd most likely to check out in full.. thanks

←

You should do so! It's a beautiful one!

←

This is the one I assumed it was from:

I guess I will order both.

[John B]

This is the one I assumed it was from:

I guess I will order both.

←

I have never heard of this one. Please let me know what you think of it when you have a chance to listen to it!

[king ubu]

This is the one I assumed it was from:

I guess I will order both.

←

I have never heard of this one. Please let me know what you think of it when you have a chance to listen to it!

←

Fits right in! Disc 1 has traditional Banda music, brass band/harmony music, with four flugelhorns (soprano, alto, tenor, bass) playing the vocal parts of opera arias... may sound wierd, but somehow I came to like it. There's the mediterranean feel to it that this kind of music lacks here. There's a warmth and that slight imperfection and that sound...

Disc 2 then features the big shots mentioned on the cover, Breuker, Matinier, Tommaso, Godard... and their compositions, which are partly based on other Italian stuff (there's a long Fellini medley, which is cool, since ubu loves Rota very very very much).

Also you need to add this one here, when you order some Italian Enja releases, anyway:

An all 'round fantastic set!

[king ubu]

music to watch Fellini by?

[Man with the Golden Arm]

for me, more to eat squid ink pasta by -

[brownie]

2. Aldo Romano Quartet – “T’ho voluto bene” Canzoni (Enja)

Aldo Romano – drums

Franco D’Andrea – piano

Paolo Fresu – trumpet

Furio Di Castri – bass

←

Was not aware of that Aldo Romano album. Never saw it. Good track on the BFT with Franco d'Andrea in brilliant mood!

On a related subject:

pulled out the La Banda double CD when I was listening to the BFT in the hope of getting one more track identified. Bad luck. But enjoyed relistening to the album. Highly recommended. Love those Italian musicians!

[Clunky]

Also you need to add this one here, when you order some Italian Enja releases, anyway:

An all 'round fantastic set!

←

agreed

[Д.Д.]

again for the BFT.

A couple of comments.

I'm not sure if it is a function of the limited size of my Italian jazz collection or if it is inherent in the small size of the country, but many musicians pop up on multiple tracks, as leaders abd as sidemen on each others recordings.

←

John, I would argue this is rather a factor of your limited exposure to Italian jazz (yet). Italian jazz/improv scene is very rich and diverse and is quite well documented (Splasc(H) label alone has 400 releases or so, and there are dozens more labels recording Italian musicians).

And Italy is a rather large country (60mln population).

1. Italian Instabile Orchestra – “Scarlattina” Litania Sibilante (Enja)

Eugenio Colombo, Gianluigi Trovesi, Carlo Actis Dato, Daniele Cavallanti, Mario Schiano -  reeds

Guido Mazzon, Alberto Mandarini, Pino Minafra trumpets

Giancarlo Schiaffini, Sebi Tramontana, Lauro Rossi trombones

Martin Mayes french horn

Renato Geremia violin

Paolo Damiani cello

Umberto Petrin piano

Giovanni Maier bass

Tiziano Tononi, Vincenzo Mazzone drums

Guests: Enrico Rava trumpet

Antonello Salis accordion

I would encourage those who liked this track to check out Italian Instabile Festival (Leo Records, 2CD). This dis features IIO musicians in various settings - from solos to trios, quartets to the full band. such a program allows musicinas to display their (formidable) solo abilities and concepts better than within IIO structure. Then foillow the discographies of the individual artists.

3. Gianni Gebbia – “Magician” Arcana Major / Sonic Tarots Session (Rastascan)

Gianni Gebbia – alto and Eb sopranino saxophone

As mentioned, this track might leave an impression of a mindless virtuoso type of muscian, but the whole disc is much more diverse than this with a lot of great ideas, melody and unmatched skill.

7. Pino Minafra – “A Margherita” Sudori (Victo)

Lauro Rossi – trombone, percussion, vocals

Giorgio Occhipinti – piano, synthesizer, percussion, vocals

Pino Minafra – trumpet, prepared trumpet, bugle, didjeridoo, speaking pipe, whistle, ocarina, percussion, vocals

Daniele Patumi – double bass, vocals

Carlo Actis Dato – tenor and baritone saxophone, percussion, vocals

Vincenzo Mazzone – drums, percussion

I listened to this one again (first time in 2.5 years), and still cannot warm to it - the musicians are outstanding, and there are some excellent moments here, but there is just too much of... everything. The whole disc is a constant hyperbola, IMO, and I tend to get tired of it very quickly.

8. Mauro Negri – “3 3 3” So Funky (Splasc(h))

Mauro Negri – clarinet

Fabrizio Meloni – clarinet

Bebo Ferra – guitar

Fiorenzo Delegà – bass

Christian Meyer – drums

←

It is important to note that this track is very uncharacteristic of the whole disc, which is, believe it or not is some mean FUNK. With clarinet as the solo instrument. Very enjoyable, clever and original music. Second clarinet is featured only on one track.

9. Tiziano Tononi – “Attica Blues” We Did It, We Did It (Splasc(h))

Herb Robertson – trumpet

Daniele Cavallanti – baritone sax

Renato Geremia – alto sax

Riccardo Luppi – piccolo flute

Beppe Caruso – trombone, tuba

Alberto Tacchini – Fender Rhodes

Roberto Cecchetto – electric guitar

Tito Mangialajo – acoustic bass

Victor Beard – recitation

Tiziano Tononi – drums, congas

←

Again, this track is uncharacteristic of the bulk of the content of this set. But then no one track would - there is a lot (too much, I'd say) of extremely diverse stuff here.

11. Steffano Battaglia / Tony Oxley – “RTA” Explore (Splasc(h))

Steffano Battaglia – piano, percussion, prepared piano

Tony Oxley - drums

←

I think this is the only trakc with prepared piano (which confused me a bit ). Battaglia has a huge discography (although he is still a young guy, not even 40, I guess), and is a truly unique voice on piano, who can (and does) play everything from bebop to Bill Evans tributes to some fairly wild stuff - all in his own original style.

A good place to buy Italian CDs is Jazzos.com.

[John B]

John, I would argue this is rather a factor of your limited exposure to Italian jazz

Yes, I thought this might be the case. It is nice that I still have so many artist's work to explore.

1. Italian Instabile Orchestra – “Scarlattina” Litania Sibilante (Enja)

I would encourage those who liked this track to check out Italian Instabile Festival (Leo Records, 2CD). This dis features IIO musicians in various settings - from solos to trios, quartets to the full band. such a program allows musicinas to display their (formidable) solo abilities and concepts better than within IIO structure. Then foillow the discographies of the individual artists.

I agree.

3. Gianni Gebbia – “Magician” Arcana Major / Sonic Tarots Session (Rastascan)

Gianni Gebbia – alto and Eb sopranino saxophone

As mentioned, this track might leave an impression of a mindless virtuoso type of muscian, but the whole disc is much more diverse than this with a lot of great ideas, melody and unmatched skill.

This disc, like the Tononi, was difficult to choose from, as any one selection would give such a small sample, and potential false impression, of the work as a whole.

9. Tiziano Tononi – “Attica Blues” We Did It, We Did It (Splasc(h))

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Again, this track is uncharacteristic of the bulk of the content of this set. But then no one track would - there is a lot (too much, I'd say) of extremely diverse stuff here.

I agree that this set could have easily been edited down to two discs. It is a lot to get through and it was difficult to limit myself to one selection. I should mention that the 3cd set is not too expensive, so people should not be daunted by 3 discs costing as much as you might think.

11. Steffano Battaglia / Tony Oxley – “RTA” Explore (Splasc(h))

Steffano Battaglia – piano, percussion, prepared piano

Tony Oxley - drums

←

I think this is the only trakc with prepared piano (which confused me a bit ). Battaglia has a huge discography (although he is still a young guy, not even 40, I guess), and is a truly unique voice on piano, who can (and does) play everything from bebop to Bill Evans tributes to some fairly wild stuff - all in his own original style.

I'm really looking forward to exploring more of Battaglia's work. I've received a few recommendations from another poster and will try to get around to ordering them soon.

←

I'll second the recommendation for Jazzos. They are fast, professional, and easy to order from. They also have many discs on sale for quite reasonable prices. I just checked and they have quite a few discs on Splasc(h) for between 5 and 7 euros.

Edited June 28, 2005 by John B

[John B]

Here is a review for another disc of Battaglia's that I have not yet heard, taken from Nate Dorward's site. This one is at the top of my "to buy" list.

"The other quintet disc here is no less interesting but at a considerable stylistic remove from the orthodox contemporary jazz of To Include. Atem (again, part of the “Contemporary Series”) was recorded in France, and the band comprises two Italian and three French musicians; the core of the group seems to be the duo of pianist Stefano Battaglia and percussionist Michele Rabbia, who have worked together since 1999. It’s an album with a fascinating instrumentation (violin, cello, tuba, piano, percussion), one which lends itself equally to intimate free-improv encounters and to gorgeous chamber-music textures that can recall Messiaen (“Lamentation des Anges”) or minimalism (“Sonet”). The album is divided into two unequal halves. At its centre is a series of free improvisations – miniatures often less than two minutes long – which mostly feature the band in small subsections. The results are appealingly varied and colourful, ranging from the harsh scrabbling of “Misture” and “Carte du Tendre” to the mysterious “Dileguando,” on which Battaglia’s piano chording is worthy of John Taylor. Sometimes the pieces are almost epigrammatic, setting forth a simple texture and then making a graceful exit. On other occasions – such as the controlled tumult of “Hommage a Emil Zatopek,” by Pifarély, Battaglia and Godard – the effect of the improvisation’s brevity is more like that of a controlled explosion. These twenty improvisations are bookended by two compositions by Battaglia, both of which borrow from the language of minimalism: indeed, “Sonet” wouldn’t have sounded out of place on Gavin Bryars’ After the Requiem. All is not always what it seems: over the 11 minutes of “Atem” the placidly consonant piano arpeggios gradually darken as the strings become almost alarmingly plangent. An exceptional album. A special word of praise is in order for the knockout tuba-player Michel Godard: I’ve often heard far less melodic and supple playing from trombonists."