Claudio Fasoli Quintet - Brooklyn Option (2015)

Between innovation and tradition, the album The Brooklyn Option marks the debut of the Claudio Fasoli Quintet, a band formed by the Italian saxophonist together with musicians from the New York scene: the trumpeter Ralph Alessi, the pianist Matt Mitchell, the bassist Drew Gress and the drummer Nasheet Waits. The saxophonist returns as his habit to collaborating with internationally renowned musicians in a work born almost by chance as he himself explains to us "I had previously met both Drew Gress and Ralph Alessi in occasional meetings in the context of jazz seminars in Siena and elsewhere. It is evident in the disc precisely this concertation of shared musical ideas where Claudio Fasoli's music from unitary becomes collective, developed in 13 songs having the Brooklyn neighborhood as the thematic center, which however, as Fasoli explains to us "are not a musical description of the places because music can and must above all be enough in itself, it must not describe a landscape but give an emotion" - and continues - "There are titles on the record that remind me of the moments I was on the Brooklyn Bridge, for example rather than in Shore Road and so on ... little flashes of details that thrilled me." But Claudio Fasoli's projects do not stop there, there are others even if they are not yet final "I am very intrigued by a rather chamber trio without drums with double bass and an extremely electronic guitar, I think this is a very interesting possibility. For example, I am curious to add another saxophonist to my trio without double bass, that is, the one with two saxophones, an electric guitar and drums. I also plan to meet Ralph Alessi and Drew Gress to re-propose the American quintet again., the curiosities are almost endless ... " ~ Extract by Paolo Marra, AAJ.  [Translated from Italian] 

Musica Jazz, MJCD 1289, 2015
Abeat Records, ABJZ206, 2019
Recorded 16th & 17th November, 2014 at Artesuono Recording Studio, Cavalicco (UD) Italy 

Musicians:
Claudio Fasoli - Tenor Saxophone, Soprano Saxophone
Ralph Alessi - Trumpet
Matt Mitchell - Piano
Drew Gress - Double Bass
Nasheet Waits - Drums 

Tracks:
01. Brooklyn Bridge Part 1 (1:16)
02. Brooklyn Bridge Part 2 (6:52)
03. Brooklyn Bridge Part 3 (1:20)
04. Carroll Gardens (2:44)
05. Bay Parkway (2:56)
06. Bam (5:50)
07. Mapletone (1:25)
08. Boerum Hill (7:18)
09. Neptune Avenue (3:48)
10. 7005 Shore Road (7:39)
11. Avenue M (5:56)
12. Dumbo (7:11)
13. Gowanus (3:47) 

Total Time: 58:06 

Credits:
Producer - Claudio Fasoli, Luca Conti
Sound Engineer - Stefano Amerio 

Brooklyn Bridge, Pt. 2

Enrico Pieranunzi - In That Dawn Of Music (1990-93)

A marvelous compilation of works by Enrico Pieranunzi spanning the years 1990 till 1993. All tracks are taken from live dates spread across venues in Denmark, Italy, Germany and Switzerland. As a result, he is accompanied by unique players from those countries whilst on tour. Many of these groupings have appeared on some of his Soul Note records from this period, but like other ‘giveaways’ by the Musica Jazz magazine these tracks have been compiled from unreleased ‘live’ recordings. So many thanks to that magazine for promoting and perpetuating another fantastic resource for Jazz Lovers throughout the world. 

Musica Jazz/Soul Note, SNMJ 003-2, 1993
13th August, 1990 (#1) Broadcast from Danish Radio, Copenhagen, Denmark
12th March 1993 (#2) at Ivrea Jazz Festival, Turin, Italy
27th August, 1992 (#3) at Roccella Ionica, Calabria, Italy
21st November, 1992 (#4) at "Fabrik", Hamburg, Germany
13th December, 1990 (#5) Broadcast, Radio Suisse Romande, Lausanne, Switzerland
27th August, 1992 (#6) Live at Roccella Ionica, Calabria, Italy
18th April, 1990 (#7) in Rome, Italy
20th November, 1992 (#8) at "Jazzhouse", Copenhagen, Denmark 

Musicians:
Enrico Pieranunzi - Piano (All Tracks)
Pietro Tonolo - Tenor Saxophone (#4)
Stefano D'Anna - Tenor Saxophone (#7)
Mads Vinding - Bass (#1)
Enzo Pietropaoli - Bass (#4,7,8)
Marc Johnson - Bass (#5)
Alex Riel - Drums (#1)
Paul Motian - Drums (#3,6)
Fabrizio Sferra - Drums (#4,8)
Roberto Gatto - Drums (#7) 

Tracks:
1. Someday My Prince Will Come {Larry Morey, Frank Churchill} (7:57)
2. Impromptu No. 5 {Enrico Pieranunzi} (4:30)
3. Anthropology {Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie} (6:52)
4. What's What {Enrico Pieranunzi} (12:06)
5. Je Ne Sais Quoi {Enrico Pieranunzi} (8:52)
6. Straight No Chaser {Thelonious Monk} (4:48)
7. In That Dawn Of Music {Enrico Pieranunzi} (7:39)
8. Someday My Prince Will Come {Larry Morey, Frank Churchill} (11:22) 

Total Time: 64:06 

Notes:
Given away free with "Musica Jazz" Magazine, n. 10/93

Paolo Fresu - Here Be Changes Made (2002)

Here we have an excellent compilation gleaned from Italian maestro trumpeter Paolo Fresu's prolific discography, especially so from his earlier albums. Many of the compositions appeared on his Italian Splasc(h) and French Owl and BMG/RCA Victor releases. This disc came bundled with the Musica Jazz Magazine and includes three unissued tracks. From 1985 till now he has been a force majeure on both the continent and abroad. There's not much more to add other than just sit back and enjoy! 

Musica Jazz, MJCD1148, 2002 

Musicians:
Paolo Fresu - Trumpet, Flugelhorn
Tino Tracanna - Tenor Saxophone
Roberto Cipelli - Piano
Nguyen Le - Guitar
Enzo Pietropaoli - Bass
Ettore Fioravanti - Drums 

Tracks:
01. Here Be Changes Made (2:59)
02. Tempête À Florence (5:12)
03. Ton Kohz (2:06)
04. Tango Della Buona Aria (4:14)
05. Ninna Nanna Per Vale (4:19)
06. Nautilus (3:10)
07. Wanderlust [Composition N.5 - KM.5341] (4:47)
08. Palazzina Americana (5:44)
09. Start Eleven O'Clock [Dedicated To Antonin Artaud] (3:01)
10. From Station To Station (3:39)
11. Ossi Di Seppia (4:47)
12. Onomatopée [Da Un Testo Di Raymond Queneau] (1:43)
13. Cortoum (4:57)
14. Mélos [Variazione Nove] (4:39)
15. L'Homme Nu (4:42)
16. Opale (4:55)
17. L'Indagine (3:13)
18. Variazione Tre [Tema di Mirphy] (4:27)
19. Madre Notte (3:21) 

Total Time: 75:54