Featuring Achille Succi on alto sax & bass clarinet, Giancarlo Tossani on piano, Tito Mangialajo Rantzer on double bass and Cristiano Calcagnile on drums The Auand label, out of Italy, has uncovered a wealthy modern jazz scene with a dozen fine discs out and a number of Italian musicians who we haven’t heard of until now. Pianist Giancarlo Tossani is not very well known even in Italy, yet he is a mighty fine pianist. He is also a fine composer and wrote seven of the nine songs here with a striking Ornette cover and an adaption of a piece by J.S. Bach. “Faites Votre Remix” opens with strong (M-Base-like) tight alto sax and piano interplay. “Audioglobe” is a delicate, haunting piece with some lovely bass clarinet. While Succi repeats this hypnotic phase over and over, the quartet swirl around him in magical circles, spinning a dreamy web. Drummer, Cristiano, is a marvel as he provides the creative (rhythmic) force behind nearly every piece. On “Souvenirs from the Future” he dances around the drums while Succi plays his bass clarinet on top of each beat. Giancarlo often writes these pieces that are moderately paced a dream-like with Succi’s haunting bass clarinet floating on top, with a bit of echo added to give the clarinet a more cerebral quality. The title piece is by Ornette Coleman and is taken slower with a lovely laid-back vibe and sublime alto sax from Achille. All four members of this fine quartet are gifted musicians and each gets a chance to shine. It is difficult to tell at times who the leader is except for the fact that Tossani wrote most of the pieces. Another wonderful jazz treasure that will most likely never be heard on WBGO. For shame!
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10th anniversary
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