Aldo Romano - Because Of Bechet (2002)

Italian-born drummer Aldo Romano is a respected European jazz musician who has played with many avant-garde and contemporary jazz stars. Living in France from his early teens, his music usually is a mix of Italian emotionalism and French sentimentality, influenced by world leading avant-garde jazz artists of the 60s and 70s. "Because Of Bechet" is quite a radical step in his musical career - this album is a tribute to American jazz sax/clarinet star Sidney Bechet. Full of tunes and straightforward jazz compositions, this album isn't just a nostalgic retrospective. Aldo also uses sampling and electronic rhythms plus organ as well as more traditional instruments to give this music, which is deeply rooted in jazz from the 20-30s, a new interpretation. With French charm and almost dance-able beats this album is an easily accessible and modern reading of a traditional jazz legacy. ~ snobb, jazzmusicarchives.com. 

EmArcy Records, 017 275-2, 2002
Recorded 31st August-4th September, 2001 at Studio Le Château, Paris, France 

Musicians:
Aldo Romano - Drums (#5,10-12), Keyboards (#2-4,6,7), Bass (#2,6),
Guitar (#4,7,8), Drum-Sampling (#2,3,6,8,9,13), Arranger (#3,12,13)
Emanuele Cisi - Soprano Sax (#1,5), Tenor Sax (#2,3,6,8-13), Arranger (#12)
Francesco Bearzatti - Soprano Sax (#2,5,11), Tenor Sax (3,8,9,13), Clarinet (#12)
Emmanuel Bex - Organ (#2,3,5,8,10-12), Arranger (#5,11)
Nico Morelli - Piano (#1,8)
Michel Benita - Double Bass (#3,8)
Olivier Sens - Double Bass (#10-12)
Naab - Drum-Sampling (#2,13)
Giorgia Fiorio - Poem Recitation (#7) 

Tracks:
01. Dans Les Rues D'Antibes [Extrait 1] {Sidney Bechet} (1:04)
02. 50 Years Later {Aldo Romano} (6:27)
03. Les Oignons {Sidney Bechet} (5:29)
04. Fina {Aldo Romano} (1:07)
05. Petite Fleur {Sidney Bechet} (5:09)
06. Blossom {Aldo Romano} (4:32)
07. Giorgia {Aldo Romano, Marina Tsvétaïéva} (3:42)
08. Crossbreed {Aldo Romano} (5:18)
09. Across {Aldo Romano} (3:30)
10. Dreams And Waters {Aldo Romano} (5:07)
11. Song For Bechet {Aldo Romano} (4:48)
12. Muskrat Ramble {Sidney Bechet} (3:57)
13. Dans Les Rues D'Antibes [Extrait 2] {Sidney Bechet} (1:06) 

Total Time: 51:24 

Credits:
Producer, Programming, Sampling - Aldo Romano
Executive-Producer - Daniel Richard
Recording, Post-production, Mixing - Philippe Teissier Du Cros
Engineer [Assistant Recording] - Manu Gallet
Mastering Engineer - Nilesh Patel
Design - Gilles Guerlet
Photography [Cover] - Gilles Guerlet
Liner Notes [English Translation] - Martin Davies

Aldo Romano - Prosodie (1995)

An interesting early session by the master drummer and composer Aldo Romano. For this album he is joined by a power-house of well-known and emerging Italian talent including trumpeter Paolo Fresu, saxophonist Stefano Di Battista, pianist Franco D'Andrea, keyboardist Jean-Michel Pilc, bassists Furio Di Castri and Michel Benita along with harmonica player Oliver Ker Ourio. All the composition are penned by Aldo Romano and as the album title 'Prosodie' infers they are structured around melody and rhythm of the sounds of a poem; rules concerning these characters of sounds. Further implying rules fixing the relationship between words and music of the song and hence the intonation and rate specific to a language. So, certainly an in-depth exploration of music, sounds and poetry, treated beautifully by a continental who’s who of fine jazz artists and musicians. 

Verve Records, 526 854 - 2, 1995
Digitally recorded 8th,9th,10th January, 1995 at Studio Gimmick, Yerres, France 

Musicians:
Aldo Romano - Drums
Paolo Fresu - Trumpet, Flugelhorn (#1,2,4-9,11)
Stefano Di Battista - Alto & Soprano Saxophones (#1-7,9)
Franco D'Andrea - Piano (#1,2,5,8,9,11)
Jean-Michel Pilc - Fender Rhodes, Electric Piano, Piano, Whistle
Michel Benita - Bass
Furio Di Castri - Bass (#1,2,5,7-11)
Oliver Ker Ourio - Harmonica 

Tracks:
01. Silenzio (6:27)
02. Kadie B. (5:03)
03. Dida [Poem] (2:20)
04. Folk Off (4:34)
05. Oracion (4:05)
06. La Samba Des Prophètes (5:11)
07. A Richman Is A Poor Man With Money (4:37)
08. On John's Guitar (6:26)
09. Nat Eyes (6:08)
10, Il Silenzio [Poem] (1:16)
11. Abstraction Lyrique (8:14) 

All Compositions by Aldo Romano 

Total Time: 54:24 

Credits:
Producer - Aldo Romano
Digitally mixed in 20 bits on Nagra IV D.

Aldo Romano' New Blood - Plays "The Connection" (2013)

Drummer septuagenarian Aldo Romano has extensive flight hours, both as an instrumentalist and composer. Besides having played with many jazz musicians across generations, he has also served as a mentor on a number of albums involving musicians from the next generation, something that is equivalent to Art Blakey and The Jazz Messengers. Regarding genre, Aldo is not tied to a single perspective; from straight-ahead to avant-garde he played without exception, including with Steve Lacy in the politically flavored The Sun (Emanem Records, 2012), to the release of Inner Smile for the Dreyfus Jazz label (2011). Now he is back through the New Blood quartet with the alto saxophonist Baptiste Herbin, pianist Alessandro Lanzoni and contrabassist Michel Benita launching Plays "The Connection" under the auspices of Dreyfus Jazz. Together with the three colleagues, Aldo brought ten post-bop numbers which started with the fast pace of "Who Killed Cock Robin" then swung a swing in "Wigglin'" as well as blasts of Parkerian virtuosic saxophone by Baptiste while playing the bebop acceleration "Music Forever." Followed by an insertion of the free improvised phrase "Theme For Sister Salvation," the four of them swayed again in a minor pace of "Jim Dunn's Dilemma" decorated with Baptiste's extensive solo while the drummer and pianist Alessandro demonstrated his skill when he performed "O.D. (Overdose)" as well as a piano composition without the accompaniment of "Conception." Complementing the high-tension action, the ballad number "Murmur" is presented sweetly in the format of a conventional trio piano as well as elegantly played by Aldo, Alessandro and Michel who play very smoothly. Likewise, the finish of "Ballade For Jackie" which seems to be for the saxophone legend Jackie McLean, was stated by Baptiste Herbin's soft gusts that closed the meeting. ~ Thomas Y. Anggoro, wartajazz.com. [Translated from Indonesian]

Dreyfus Jazz, FDM 4605036984, 2013
Recorded 28th-29th May, 2012, Paris, France 

Musicians:
Aldo Romano - Drums
Baptiste Herbin - Alto Saxophone
Alessandro Lanzoni - Piano, Solo (#9)
Michel Benita - Double Bass 

Tracks:
01. Who Killed Cock Robin {Freddie Redd} (3:54)
02. Wigglin' {Freddie Redd} (4:34)
03. Music Forever {Freddie Redd} (3:58)
04. Time To Smile {Freddie Redd} (4:12)
05. Theme For Sister Salvation {Freddie Redd} (3:02)
06. Jim Dunn's Dilemma {Freddie Redd} (2:58)
07. O.D. [Overdose] {Freddie Redd} (3:04)
08. Murmur {Aldo Romano} (5:41)
09. Conception {George Shearing} (2:40)
10. Ballade For Jackie {Baptiste Herbin} (4:29) 

Total Time: 38:32

A new album for the drummer Aldo Romano, who, at 70, multiplies his collaborations. This new formation is particularly like him, he who likes nothing so much as playing with the new generation of jazz (the saxophonist Baptiste Herbin: 25 years old! Or the young Italian pianist Alessandro Lanzoni, best young soloist at the international Martial Solal competition in 2010) and sure values: Michel Benita on the double bass. In 1959, the "Living Theater", a New York experimental theater troupe created Jack Gelber's play "The Connection". It's a room within the room; producer Jim Dunn and screenwriter Jaybird want to show the bottom of the lives of hard drug addicts. It's a closed session in a slum rented by a madman, there are four or five lost and a jazz quartet playing while waiting for the dealer "Cowboy". The play, which will be the subject of a film directed by Shirley Clarke in 1961, will be shot in New York, London, Los Angeles, Italy, Germany, Scandinavia, with the Living Theater and a jazz quartet led by pianist Freddie Redd and Jackie McLean on alto sax. The music was recorded by the "Blue Note" brand in 1960. Today, with "New Blood", Aldo Romano takes up the music of Freddie Redd out of respect for the heavy price paid by the jazzmen of that time, who died drugged in the general indifference of a society that has understood nothing about their music. ~ disquesdreyfus.com. [Translated from French]

Palatino - Palatino (1995)

The Palatine Hill is not only one of the hills of Rome but also a very direct train that united Rome in Paris: inaugurated in 1969 (it was recently suppressed) it took about fifteen hours to unite the two European capitals. The Palatine thus becomes a symbol to relate the music, and the sensibility, of Aldo Romano and Paolo Fresu, both Italian by birth but French by adoption. The group that takes this name materializes in 1996 and is completed by the double bass player Michel Benita and trombonist Glenn Ferris on the trombone. Active until 2001, this piano-less quartet with a decidedly engaging timbre mix, has recorded three records: "Palatino" (Label Bleu, 1996), "Tempo" (Label Bleu, 1998) and "Palatino Chap. 3 "(Universal, 2001): in his music you can hear Davis' echoes, afro splinters, melodic cues and above all the West Coast environments typical of the dialogues between Chet Baker and Bob Brookmeyer seem to re-emerge. More recently, in May 2011, quartet was filmed on the stage of the Maize de la Culture in Grenoble and the result was reproduced on a double cd from the title "Back In Town" (Naïve, 2011). 

Label Bleu, LBLC 6585, 1996
Recorded 1^st-2^nd June, 1995 At Studio de La Maison De La Culture D'Amiens 

Musicians:
Paolo Fresu - Trumpet
Glenn Ferris - Trombone
Michel Benita - Double Bass
Aldo Romano - Drums

Tracks:
01. Dawn {Aldo Romano} (5:32)
02. Aléas {Michel Benita} (3:50)
03. Calabrian Nights {Glenn Ferris} (7:16)
04. Variazone Tre [Tema Di Mirpy] {Aldo Romano} (5:46)
05. Animal Love {Glenn Ferris} (7:07)
06. Interlude {Michel Benita} (3:37)
07. Trunca E Peltunta {Paolo Fresu} (4:41)
08. Glenn's Walk {Aldo Romano} (5:00)
09. 20 Small Cigars {Frank Zappa} (4:17)
10. Lulu Is Back In Town {Harry Warren} (5:17) 

Total Time: 52:23

Credits:
Executive-Producer - Michel Orier
Engineer - Philippe Teissier Du Cros
Engineer [Assistant] - Pierre Guinot
Editing - Jean-Pierre Bouquet
Design - Christophe Rémy
Photography - Patrick Burban