Featuring Francesco Bearzatti – tenor sax & clarinet, Emmanuel Bex – organ & electronics and Aldo Romano – drums with special guest Enrico Rava on trumpet. I hadn’t heard of Italian reeds wiz, Francesco Bearzatti, or Emmanuel Bex before this disc, it turns out that Mr. Bearzatti has three CD’s out on the Auand label, as of now (5/08). The other members of this quartet are pretty well now: Enrico Rava has long been the busiest of all jazz trumpet heroes from Italy with some dozens of discs out on ECM, Soul Note and Philology. Aldo Romano remains one of the most creative and in-demand drummers for nearly as long, having worked with Don Cherry and Steve Lacy.
Starting with “T Tango,” which is a pleasant sort of tango with some lovely trumpet from Enrico and cheesy organ from Emmanuel. “Soap Bubble” features some tasty old-school tenor from Francesco with lovely trumpet harmonies. “From Halab to Damascus” has a nice middle-eastern groove with some sly snake-charming clarinet up front. There is something about that cheesy organ that I dig when it’s used right. Most of this disc is laid back with some sunny melodies that sound just right for the tenor sax and trumpet, who seem to favor the more melodic side of things. Out of nowhere comes “End of This Love” with some heavy rockin’ guitar from Enrico Terragnoli (who records for the El Gallo Rojo label). While I do dig this cut, it does sound quite out of place amongst the more somber and melodies ditties. Drummer Aldo Romano actually plays some lovely acoustic guitar behind Rava on “Assenza,” an instrument that I didn’t know he played. When Francesco switches to clarinet, the music sounds like the soundtrack to an Italian movie, quirky and fun. “Body-Trap” has a great, funky organ groove with some fine, simmering tenor by Francesco. It sounds like a song that Naked City might cover. Francesco Bearazatti does have a strong, warm tenor tone, well-seasoned sounding well beyond his youthful appearance. For the concluding piece, “Hope,” bits of echoed drums and funky sampled voices add an odd sort of charm to this long, dub-like, soundtrack-ish work.
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