Raduna attorno a sé un quartetto essenziale e efficacissimo, il contrabbassista Giovanni Maier, per questo “The Talking Bass”: Emanule Parrini a violino e viola, Luca Calabrese alla tromba, Scott Amendola alla batteria. È un narrare spiraleggiante, che guarda sia alla creatività del jazz afroamericano degli anni Settanta che alla instabilità urbana di molto jazz contemporaneo, ma che vibra di una sensibilità tutta originale, ben assecondata da tutti, sia nei collettivi che nei momenti solisti. Bello. (7)Raduna attorno a sé un quartetto essenziale e efficacissimo, il contrabbassista Giovanni Maier, per questo “The Talking Bass”: Emanule Parrini a violino e viola, Luca Calabrese alla tromba, Scott Amendola alla batteria. È un narrare spiraleggiante, che guarda sia alla creatività del jazz afroamericano degli anni Settanta che alla instabilità urbana di molto jazz contemporaneo, ma che vibra di una sensibilità tutta originale, ben assecondata da tutti, sia nei collettivi che nei momenti solisti. Bello. (7)

Students of jazz have long known that the bassist can be the hippest musician on the bandstand, constantly listening, and rarely featured. That’s why, when a first class bassist like Giovanni Maier gets a chance to lead and present his compositions, it should be a special event. That is just whatThe Talking Bass is: a vehicle to feature not only his playing, but his writing as well.
Maier is a constant sideman to the likes of Stefano Battaglia, Daniele Cavallanti, and Enrico Rava, and is a member of the Italian Instabile Orchestra. Where his previous recording with featured guitarist Marc Ribot,Technicolor (Long Sound, 2008), was a detonation of electricity, this session creates its sparks acoustically.
Naturally, the recording features Maier’s colossal sound both plucked and bowed. Opening the disc in a multitracked duet with himself, Maier extends his energies as an umbrella over the session. On the next eight tracks he is joined by violinist Emanuele Parrini and trumpeter Luca Calabrese, plus Los Angeles band leader/drummer/Nels Cline sideman, Scott Amendola. The quartet presents a mix of energized compositions and attention grabbing free jazz, all regulated by Maier’s touch.
Maier writes lengthy pieces that reshape themselves organically. The fury of “Disk Dosk” finds Maier and Amendola churning white water under the applied soloing of Parrini’s violin, then Calabrese’s agreeable trumpet steps away from Maier’s bowed solo into the restyled and agreeable atmosphere, playing with businesslike precision with Parrini. These sliding and shifting themes should be familiar to fans of bassist Mario Pavone, and Maier makes great use of his penchant for adjustment.He also writes bebop phrases, as in the swinging “Leroy Vinegar,” with a sometime scampish swagger, or “Wrong Is Right, where Amendola is given leave for an outlandish drum solo. The band plays a bit open and free on “Due Cellule” and adds some effects (via Amendola) with “Pampaluna.”
A solid session, made all the better knowing it was all recorded as first takes. Impressive.

Nicola Cipani è un pianista svizzero che insegna alla New York University da ormai dodici anni. Nel contempo porta avanti una carriera da pianista “sperimentale” che fino ad oggi aveva prodotto l’album “The lll Tempered Piano”, ben accolto dalle riviste di settore e dedicato ai pianoforti rotti, come nei dischi dell’australiano Ross Bolleter. Questa volta Cipani utilizza invece degli strumenti integri, ma ne va a percuotere e far risuonare direttamente le corde con dei “massaggi” che si ritanno a una tradizione ormai secolare, che parte dall’Henry Cowell di The Banshee e arriva, nei suoi esiti più avveniristici, fino ai celestiali bordoni per corde (senza pianoforte) di Ellen Fullman.
Cipani pure si accoda a una visione minimalista e a suo modo eterea della manipolazione del suono, eppure il suo piano è sempre molto fisico e tintinnante (I e IV in particolare), talvolta incline a visionarie scarnificazioni impro (III, la radicalizzazione di certo Schlippenbach) ma quasi sempre interessanto a lunghe e progressioni melodiche nascoste da uno spesso velo di vibrante e meccanico strumming. Pur esposta con un lieve accademismo, questa musica va affiancata al (diverso) lavoro di Anthony Pateras, tra le avanguardie del pianoforte contemporaneo. (7/8)Nicola Cipani è un pianista svizzero che insegna alla New York University da ormai dodici anni. Nel contempo porta avanti una carriera da pianista “sperimentale” che fino ad oggi aveva prodotto l’album “The lll Tempered Piano”, ben accolto dalle riviste di settore e dedicato ai pianoforti rotti, come nei dischi dell’australiano Ross Bolleter. Questa volta Cipani utilizza invece degli strumenti integri, ma ne va a percuotere e far risuonare direttamente le corde con dei “massaggi” che si ritanno a una tradizione ormai secolare, che parte dall’Henry Cowell di The Banshee e arriva, nei suoi esiti più avveniristici, fino ai celestiali bordoni per corde (senza pianoforte) di Ellen Fullman.
Cipani pure si accoda a una visione minimalista e a suo modo eterea della manipolazione del suono, eppure il suo piano è sempre molto fisico e tintinnante (I e IV in particolare), talvolta incline a visionarie scarnificazioni impro (III, la radicalizzazione di certo Schlippenbach) ma quasi sempre interessanto a lunghe e progressioni melodiche nascoste da uno spesso velo di vibrante e meccanico strumming. Pur esposta con un lieve accademismo, questa musica va affiancata al (diverso) lavoro di Anthony Pateras, tra le avanguardie del pianoforte contemporaneo. (7/8)

On the nature of deception : you can be deceived by others, and by yourself. You can be deceived in the positive sense, and in the negative sense. Luckily here, it’s in the positive sense.

When I opened this CD package, the cheap look of the cover and the title made me think this was yet another album by an instrumentalist for fellow instrumentalists, with the screaming yellow begging for attention like a big “Buy Now!” sticker on as yet unpurchased and possibly unmarketable commodities.

I had heard Giovanni Maier’s previous CD on Long Song, an electric fusion affair with Marc Ribot on guitar – and honestly this was not my style or genre at all, not by a long stretch, and hence not wetting my appetite for further listening.

But then you listen to the music on this album, and the preconceptions are shattered:  it is rich, deep, thorough, with great melodies, excellent musicianship and great interaction. The band is Giovanni Maier on bass, Emanuele Parrini on violin and viola, Luca Calabrese on trumpet and flugelhorn, and Scott Amendola on drums.

Starting with a bass intro, it moves organically into “Disk Dosk” a long suit-like piece with composed parts and wonderful free moments, and especially the latter are staggering, with Calabrese’s trumpet and Maier’s bass achieving great heights. The next piece, “Crayon Rouge”, is even better, starting freely, with a great bass vamp emerging out of the freedom, leading into a sweet and compelling theme, with Parrini’s raw viola sounds freely improvising over the hypnotic rhythm, followed by an incredibly bluesy solo by Calabrese.

This is followed by “Due Cellule”, which sounds totally free and is – believe it or not – still better than the previous tracks, slow and adventurous. This sense of adventure is even more accentuated on the following track, full of unexpected twists and turns, like the sudden wild outburst by Amendola, or the arco by Maier. “El Manda”, led by Calabrese’s trumpet is a sad and melancholy piece, with some Latin influences, moving into the open-ended “Soft Transitions”, with Maier’s gut-wrenching arco flageolets touching some deep emotional layers.The music offers a great texture of sounds, often gloomy, moving, compelling.

Then, and unfortunately, after the band has sucked you into a dark universe all their own, with great stylistic unity, you get two more tracks who belong elsewhere : “Leroy Vinnegar”, clearly an ode to Leroy Jenkins, is an  upbeat thing, and “Wrong Is Right”, a more joyful boppish track that again is not in line with the atmosphere created previously. The last two tracks are not bad by themselves, if listened to in another context.

In all, let my subjective appreciation of the last two tracks not deter you from checking this album out. All the previous tracks are of a really high level with a grand musical vision that’s unfortunately not maintained till the end.On the nature of deception : you can be deceived by others, and by yourself. You can be deceived in the positive sense, and in the negative sense. Luckily here, it’s in the positive sense.

When I opened this CD package, the cheap look of the cover and the title made me think this was yet another album by an instrumentalist for fellow instrumentalists, with the screaming yellow begging for attention like a big “Buy Now!” sticker on as yet unpurchased and possibly unmarketable commodities.

I had heard Giovanni Maier’s previous CD on Long Song, an electric fusion affair with Marc Ribot on guitar – and honestly this was not my style or genre at all, not by a long stretch, and hence not wetting my appetite for further listening.

But then you listen to the music on this album, and the preconceptions are shattered:  it is rich, deep, thorough, with great melodies, excellent musicianship and great interaction. The band is Giovanni Maier on bass, Emanuele Parrini on violin and viola, Luca Calabrese on trumpet and flugelhorn, and Scott Amendola on drums.

Starting with a bass intro, it moves organically into “Disk Dosk” a long suit-like piece with composed parts and wonderful free moments, and especially the latter are staggering, with Calabrese’s trumpet and Maier’s bass achieving great heights. The next piece, “Crayon Rouge”, is even better, starting freely, with a great bass vamp emerging out of the freedom, leading into a sweet and compelling theme, with Parrini’s raw viola sounds freely improvising over the hypnotic rhythm, followed by an incredibly bluesy solo by Calabrese.

This is followed by “Due Cellule”, which sounds totally free and is – believe it or not – still better than the previous tracks, slow and adventurous. This sense of adventure is even more accentuated on the following track, full of unexpected twists and turns, like the sudden wild outburst by Amendola, or the arco by Maier. “El Manda”, led by Calabrese’s trumpet is a sad and melancholy piece, with some Latin influences, moving into the open-ended “Soft Transitions”, with Maier’s gut-wrenching arco flageolets touching some deep emotional layers.The music offers a great texture of sounds, often gloomy, moving, compelling.

Then, and unfortunately, after the band has sucked you into a dark universe all their own, with great stylistic unity, you get two more tracks who belong elsewhere : “Leroy Vinnegar”, clearly an ode to Leroy Jenkins, is an  upbeat thing, and “Wrong Is Right”, a more joyful boppish track that again is not in line with the atmosphere created previously. The last two tracks are not bad by themselves, if listened to in another context.

In all, let my subjective appreciation of the last two tracks not deter you from checking this album out. All the previous tracks are of a really high level with a grand musical vision that’s unfortunately not maintained till the end.

Featuring Giovanni Maier on double bass & compositions, Emanuele Parrini on violin & viola, Luca Calabrese on trumpet & flugelhorn and Scott Amendola on drums. When we received this disc a few weeks back, I was surprised about how amazing it was. I shouldn’t have been since the Long Song label has released a dozen great discs so far and Giovanni Maier has worked a with a number of other great musicians like Cavallanti & Tononi, Stefano Battaglia, Umberto Petrin and Zeno De Rossi. Mr. Parrini and Mr. Calabrese have also worked with the great Cavallanti & Tononi (a/k/a Nexus) bands as well. No doubt you know drum wiz Scott Amendola from his work with Nels Cline, Ben Goldberg and Larry Ochs.
Giovanni Maier’s fabulous acoustic bass is at the center of these pieces and it is extremely well recorded. The title tune is first it features what sounds like layers of contrabass lines swirling around one another magnificently. “Disk Dosk” kicks in hard with powerful drums and massive bass. The viola and trumpet ride the colossal waves below with an incredibly intense solo from Emanuele’s burnin’ viola. About half way through Giovanni’s bass hits this dynamite throbbing groove with some amazing trumpet and viola soaring together above. This is one outstanding quartet with each member an integral part of the great, tight group sound. One of the things that makes this disc so great is he way Giovanni has written these pieces with the specfic musicians in mind, accentuating exactly what they do so well. The haunting harmonies of the flugel & violin on “Due Cellule” are exquisite with Maier’s sublime bass and Amendola’s subtle brushes supporting sublimely. This disc is filled to the brim (78+ minutes) with consistently splendid creative, crafty and intriguing music. Twice this week, I had this disc on and two different customers were knocked out and had to have a copy of their own. You will no doubt feel the same way once you dig in.Featuring Giovanni Maier on double bass & compositions, Emanuele Parrini on violin & viola, Luca Calabrese on trumpet & flugelhorn and Scott Amendola on drums. When we received this disc a few weeks back, I was surprised about how amazing it was. I shouldn’t have been since the Long Song label has released a dozen great discs so far and Giovanni Maier has worked a with a number of other great musicians like Cavallanti & Tononi, Stefano Battaglia, Umberto Petrin and Zeno De Rossi. Mr. Parrini and Mr. Calabrese have also worked with the great Cavallanti & Tononi (a/k/a Nexus) bands as well. No doubt you know drum wiz Scott Amendola from his work with Nels Cline, Ben Goldberg and Larry Ochs.
Giovanni Maier’s fabulous acoustic bass is at the center of these pieces and it is extremely well recorded. The title tune is first it features what sounds like layers of contrabass lines swirling around one another magnificently. “Disk Dosk” kicks in hard with powerful drums and massive bass. The viola and trumpet ride the colossal waves below with an incredibly intense solo from Emanuele’s burnin’ viola. About half way through Giovanni’s bass hits this dynamite throbbing groove with some amazing trumpet and viola soaring together above. This is one outstanding quartet with each member an integral part of the great, tight group sound. One of the things that makes this disc so great is he way Giovanni has written these pieces with the specfic musicians in mind, accentuating exactly what they do so well. The haunting harmonies of the flugel & violin on “Due Cellule” are exquisite with Maier’s sublime bass and Amendola’s subtle brushes supporting sublimely. This disc is filled to the brim (78+ minutes) with consistently splendid creative, crafty and intriguing music. Twice this week, I had this disc on and two different customers were knocked out and had to have a copy of their own. You will no doubt feel the same way once you dig in.

Le loro allucinatissime canzoni, che nell’esordio guardavano ad una sfasata e minimale forma di folk e blues, qui si tingono di rock ed alzano il tasso d’elettricità facendosi, nel contempo, anche più quadrate e leggibili. Rimane costante comunque la laterali di un progetto che si pone quasi come virus all’interno del panorama musicale odierno, da un lato attraverso i testi di Bertacchini, lividi e visionari, urlati o declamate con un fare quasi da Ferretti dei tempi belli, dall’altro attraverso una musica che, sia pur poi non così ostica, dà una visione del blues o del rock da una prospettica sempre iconoclasta e personale. Undici brani – tra cui uno ispirato a Pasolini – creativi e spiazzanti, d’autentica e fulgida bellezza.Le loro allucinatissime canzoni, che nell’esordio guardavano ad una sfasata e minimale forma di folk e blues, qui si tingono di rock ed alzano il tasso d’elettricità facendosi, nel contempo, anche più quadrate e leggibili. Rimane costante comunque la laterali di un progetto che si pone quasi come virus all’interno del panorama musicale odierno, da un lato attraverso i testi di Bertacchini, lividi e visionari, urlati o declamate con un fare quasi da Ferretti dei tempi belli, dall’altro attraverso una musica che, sia pur poi non così ostica, dà una visione del blues o del rock da una prospettica sempre iconoclasta e personale. Undici brani – tra cui uno ispirato a Pasolini – creativi e spiazzanti, d’autentica e fulgida bellezza.

Ciò che nelle ultime prove di Shipwreck Bag Show e Uncode Duello covava sotto la cenere -un blues urbano sintetizzato in forma di suono alieno e disperato- in “KC” emerge prepotentemente in superficie attraverso una serie di composizioni in cui il duo lriondo/Bertacchini gioca a ricomporre le tessere della sua musica, riavvicinandosi all’idea di “canzone”. Sono brani dalla struttura essenziale, legati gli uni agli altri da un respiro affannato e carico d’angoscia, colmi di elettricità e rabbia che finalmente esplode in un blues di lamiere e ruggine. lriondo sembra finalmente aver raggiunto il nucleo del proprio suono in riff di chitarra talmente saturati e compressi da trasformarsi in loops di materia puramente sintetica (Siete Sol0 TV / Ratti nella Via), mentre Bertacchini urla nel microfono testi visionari che ne L’Abitudine alla Repressione e Azioni/Reazioni sembrano tracciare un ponte ideale con gli Starfuckers di Ordine Pubblico. Le parole di Pasolini in Capitani Coraggiosi che chiudono l’album sono l’ideale atto conclusivo di un lavoro avventuroso, vitale e comunicativo. (7/8)Ciò che nelle ultime prove di Shipwreck Bag Show e Uncode Duello covava sotto la cenere -un blues urbano sintetizzato in forma di suono alieno e disperato- in “KC” emerge prepotentemente in superficie attraverso una serie di composizioni in cui il duo lriondo/Bertacchini gioca a ricomporre le tessere della sua musica, riavvicinandosi all’idea di “canzone”. Sono brani dalla struttura essenziale, legati gli uni agli altri da un respiro affannato e carico d’angoscia, colmi di elettricità e rabbia che finalmente esplode in un blues di lamiere e ruggine. lriondo sembra finalmente aver raggiunto il nucleo del proprio suono in riff di chitarra talmente saturati e compressi da trasformarsi in loops di materia puramente sintetica (Siete Sol0 TV / Ratti nella Via), mentre Bertacchini urla nel microfono testi visionari che ne L’Abitudine alla Repressione e Azioni/Reazioni sembrano tracciare un ponte ideale con gli Starfuckers di Ordine Pubblico. Le parole di Pasolini in Capitani Coraggiosi che chiudono l’album sono l’ideale atto conclusivo di un lavoro avventuroso, vitale e comunicativo. (7/8)