Featuring Sean Bergin tenor sax & flutes, Gianluca Petrella on trombone. Antonio Borghini on double bass and Hamid Drake drums. The (Italian-based) Auand label appears to do a great job of bringing together selective international groups with creative musicians from both sides of the Atlantic. The Domino Quartet is another fine example with Dutch reeds wiz Sean Bergin, Chicago drum master Hamid Drake with two great Italian musicians. Trombonist, Gianluca Petrella, has an amazing quartet disc out on this same label, as well as two fine but overlooked discs out on Blue Note. Three of the four members of this quartet contribute pieces to this disc.
Starting with “Navigation #14,” the walking bass-lines keep switching tempos while both horns play righteous, bluesy harmonies, bending their notes together perfectly. “Aimlessley” (sic) is certainly not aimless, but it does have a short free section. I dig the way Sean’s swaggering tenor works with Gianluca’s equally spirited trombone. “Zulu Wedding” features some strong earthy flutes, crafty hand drums and occasional trombone punctuation. Antonio’s “Red Lights” recalls a Duke Ellington-like laid-back and bluesy melodic with some mighty fine old-school tenor sax wailing. Double bassist, Antonio Borghini, the least known member of this quartet is consistently strong throughout this disc and often at the center, the heart and bottom of each piece, working perfectly with Hamid Drake. His writing on each of his three contributions is also the most memorable ones of the batch. This consistently solid disc concludes with one cover tune, Mingus’ “Peggy’s Blue Skylight,” which gets a most festive and passionate reading. A most thoughtful and righteous conclusion to another gem from the grand Auand catalogue.
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