“Italian freebop?” our editor cleverly inferred, when I made a pitch for this date featuring Paul Rogers and Southern Italian musicians previously unknown to me. Rogers is unlikely to play hard-bop, went the reasoning, but free improv is not too prevalent in Italy – hence the compromise. Only it’s not a compromise, but a splendid album of free blowing over powerful grooves propelled by the English bassist with Italian drummer Francesco Sotgiu.
The leader, Gianluca Petrella, was born in Bari in south Italy in 1975 and now works with Enrico Rava. Compositions are by Petrella, Girotto and Rogers, and from the brief burning opener, “Broken Head”, inspiration doesn’t flag. The combination of baritone sax, trombone, bass and drums is an unusual one, and the band contrives a wide range of textures from the slimmed-down instrumental resources. Paul Rogers is virtuosic on 5-string bass. If the strength of Italian jazz lies in a fragile lyricism, this is muscular, powerfully swinging music where melody is comparatively less prominent.
The tracks are fairly brief, mostly around four minutes. Petrella’s “X-Ray” is polymetric, with drums and bass doubling the feel of the horns, while Rogers’s “Femtosecond” is dirge-like with a beautiful chorale-like ending. On “Araucanos”, Girotto begins on quena, presumably a kind of flute, before switching to soprano sax in a compelling lament. The disc is the first on the new label produced by Apuglia’s man about jazz, Marco Valente, and the recording date is correct. It must be a record. The album was recorded, mixed and mastered at Artesuono Studio in Cavalicco on September 10-12, and was in this reviewer’s hands by the end of October. It’s obtainable via www.Jazzos.com
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