Nicola Cipani’s ill-tempered piano is an instrument that is rarely played, hard to find and hauntingly beautiful. Neither the prepared piano (in the Cage tradition) nor the unprepared piano (in an orthodox, say Marian McPartland, manner), it’s what might be called an “unprepared piano”: an instrument not in any condition for a traditional concerto. Unprepared piano players are rare; pemaps the only other musician to make a name on the instrument is Australian Ross Bolleter of the World Association for Ruined Piano Studies (an institution which seems to have two members, Cipani not being the other), whose expenments on pianos left to decay and rot have been collected on the excellent 2006 Emanem release Secret Sandhills and Satellites. But with the unprepared piano, as with any per- fonmance, what counts is the singer, not the song. Each weathered keyboard must, like a handmade steel drum, be approached on its own terms to leam the idiosyncrasies of the instrument. Where Bolleter seems to strive for being as pianistic as possible—playing slow suites on his found detritus— Cipani seems to seek out the most off sounds he can find. The 24 brief tracks on The 111- Tempered Piano, recorded on found instruments in New Yorl< City, are achingly gorgeous. To say they often sound like a gamelan is something of a c1iché in writing about experimen- tal music (rather akin to “tastes Iike chicken”) but the melodie percussion of his improvisations makefor an unusual and wonderfullisten.Nicola Cipani’s ill-tempered piano is an instrument that is rarely played, hard to find and hauntingly beautiful. Neither the prepared piano (in the Cage tradition) nor the unprepared piano (in an orthodox, say Marian McPartland, manner), it’s what might be called an “unprepared piano”: an instrument not in any condition for a traditional concerto. Unprepared piano players are rare; pemaps the only other musician to make a name on the instrument is Australian Ross Bolleter of the World Association for Ruined Piano Studies (an institution which seems to have two members, Cipani not being the other), whose expenments on pianos left to decay and rot have been collected on the excellent 2006 Emanem release Secret Sandhills and Satellites. But with the unprepared piano, as with any per- fonmance, what counts is the singer, not the song. Each weathered keyboard must, like a handmade steel drum, be approached on its own terms to leam the idiosyncrasies of the instrument. Where Bolleter seems to strive for being as pianistic as possible—playing slow suites on his found detritus— Cipani seems to seek out the most off sounds he can find. The 24 brief tracks on The 111- Tempered Piano, recorded on found instruments in New Yorl< City, are achingly gorgeous. To say they often sound like a gamelan is something of a c1iché in writing about experimen- tal music (rather akin to “tastes Iike chicken”) but the melodie percussion of his improvisations makefor an unusual and wonderfullisten.

While the best solo jazz recordings reveal an artist’s inner thoughts, the most outstanding duos endure as memorable conversations. Guitarist Craig Green and drummer David King allow us to eavesdrop on a wide variety of semi-structured discourses with this stylistically varied self-titled release. King holds forth on drums, percussion, vibes and piano and, as is apropos of this type of project, displays sides of himself that are not all that obvious in his main gig with The Bad Plus. Green likewise strays from electric and acoustic guitars by mixing in some electronics adding to the already broad sonic patois.

“Thin Blue Ice” begins this set as a reflective piano soliloquy that is augmented by electronic coloration while closer “Border Town 1929” reverses roles as Green’s guitar delivers a monologue supported by drums and electronics. What makes this an engaging listen though is the fluency that these two musicians articulate on the in-between cuts: “Faux Hawk” presents an escalating give and take between rock guitar and drums; “Part 2” is a minimalist interaction between guitar and vibes; “Rainey Qunciera” is a beautiful vibes and acoustic guitar Spanish language interchange and “Walk Left” portrays a tension filled electric guitar/piano staccato chat.

Three extended pieces allow for some linguistic boundary-stretching as the spacey argot of “Cinematic”, the old-timey meets-heavy-metal idiom of “Praise the Shadows” and a “Snow Plow” that learns to speak a funky Latin slang. This is improvised music that keeps the flashy solos to a minimum, eschews the head-solo-head form and in the process achieves a depth of expression.

There are no hackneyed phrases here and the result is original and fresh with few clichés. Green and King are well spoken in their discordant dialects and disparate tongues.While the best solo jazz recordings reveal an artist’s inner thoughts, the most outstanding duos endure as memorable conversations. Guitarist Craig Green and drummer David King allow us to eavesdrop on a wide variety of semi-structured discourses with this stylistically varied self-titled release. King holds forth on drums, percussion, vibes and piano and, as is apropos of this type of project, displays sides of himself that are not all that obvious in his main gig with The Bad Plus. Green likewise strays from electric and acoustic guitars by mixing in some electronics adding to the already broad sonic patois.

“Thin Blue Ice” begins this set as a reflective piano soliloquy that is augmented by electronic coloration while closer “Border Town 1929” reverses roles as Green’s guitar delivers a monologue supported by drums and electronics. What makes this an engaging listen though is the fluency that these two musicians articulate on the in-between cuts: “Faux Hawk” presents an escalating give and take between rock guitar and drums; “Part 2” is a minimalist interaction between guitar and vibes; “Rainey Qunciera” is a beautiful vibes and acoustic guitar Spanish language interchange and “Walk Left” portrays a tension filled electric guitar/piano staccato chat.

Three extended pieces allow for some linguistic boundary-stretching as the spacey argot of “Cinematic”, the old-timey meets-heavy-metal idiom of “Praise the Shadows” and a “Snow Plow” that learns to speak a funky Latin slang. This is improvised music that keeps the flashy solos to a minimum, eschews the head-solo-head form and in the process achieves a depth of expression.

There are no hackneyed phrases here and the result is original and fresh with few clichés. Green and King are well spoken in their discordant dialects and disparate tongues.

Italian tenor saxophonist Daniele Cavallanti and drummer Tizian Tononi, created a new project, composing two suites “Faces & Phases”, to be played by some of the best Italian musicians, and with Jenny Scheinman on violin as the guest star. The “Faces”part, composed by Cavallanti, focuses on modern movie directors, including “Cassavetes”, “Bertolucci”, “Jarmush”, “Wenders” and “Eastwood”, the “Phases” part, composed by Tononi, are more inspired by nature. The Italian musicians include Giovanni Maier on bass, Massimo Moriani on electric guitar, Pacho on percussion, Emanuele Parrini on viola, and Achille Succi on bass clarinet and alto saxophone. The music brings a strange mix of modern jazz, fusion, rock, folk music, world music, avant-garde and free moments. The original idea was also to use the infinite possibilities of interaction between the two horns, the two strings and the guitar, together with the clear objective to create “lyrical tension, drama, power but at the same time always under control”. And I must say, that they managed to make this programmatic approach come true. Not only are the musicians excellent, but so is the music.

“Faces” is melodic, starting in an avant-garde fashion, moving on into “Cassavetes”, possibly the most jazzy piece of all, eery and agonizing. “Jarmush” is uptempo, a little more funky and fusion, whereas “Wenders” has a propulsive rock drive with heavily distorted guitar solo, yet “Eastwood” is the best piece, a great mid-tempo workout with excellent solos from Cavallanti and Scheinman.

“Phases”, also starts very avant-garde, with eery and screeching sounds like seagulls crying overhead, accompanied by singing whales, with the guitar and drums intervening with some some more industrial sounds. “Motionary Tales” has more drama, with strong unison theme, evolving into a lighter tune with a steady beat, over which the soloists do their thing, although all accompaniment slowly ebbs away before the viola give as a gripping solo. “Before The Storm”, the second long track, is much slower, with a great wild part in the middle, where all the solo instruments have a kind of battle for share of voice, only to rejoin a theme for a march-like tune. But I like “Landschape # 2” the best, with a combination of a folk tune with world music influences, a great bass clarinet solo over great percussive work by Pacho and a beautiful viloa solo by Parrini.

Variation enough, actually the tunes changes every few minutes, even the longest ones, yet despite that, the whole is pretty coherent. For some listeners there might be a little too much stylistic variation, though.Italian tenor saxophonist Daniele Cavallanti and drummer Tizian Tononi, created a new project, composing two suites “Faces & Phases”, to be played by some of the best Italian musicians, and with Jenny Scheinman on violin as the guest star. The “Faces”part, composed by Cavallanti, focuses on modern movie directors, including “Cassavetes”, “Bertolucci”, “Jarmush”, “Wenders” and “Eastwood”, the “Phases” part, composed by Tononi, are more inspired by nature. The Italian musicians include Giovanni Maier on bass, Massimo Moriani on electric guitar, Pacho on percussion, Emanuele Parrini on viola, and Achille Succi on bass clarinet and alto saxophone. The music brings a strange mix of modern jazz, fusion, rock, folk music, world music, avant-garde and free moments. The original idea was also to use the infinite possibilities of interaction between the two horns, the two strings and the guitar, together with the clear objective to create “lyrical tension, drama, power but at the same time always under control”. And I must say, that they managed to make this programmatic approach come true. Not only are the musicians excellent, but so is the music.

“Faces” is melodic, starting in an avant-garde fashion, moving on into “Cassavetes”, possibly the most jazzy piece of all, eery and agonizing. “Jarmush” is uptempo, a little more funky and fusion, whereas “Wenders” has a propulsive rock drive with heavily distorted guitar solo, yet “Eastwood” is the best piece, a great mid-tempo workout with excellent solos from Cavallanti and Scheinman.

“Phases”, also starts very avant-garde, with eery and screeching sounds like seagulls crying overhead, accompanied by singing whales, with the guitar and drums intervening with some some more industrial sounds. “Motionary Tales” has more drama, with strong unison theme, evolving into a lighter tune with a steady beat, over which the soloists do their thing, although all accompaniment slowly ebbs away before the viola give as a gripping solo. “Before The Storm”, the second long track, is much slower, with a great wild part in the middle, where all the solo instruments have a kind of battle for share of voice, only to rejoin a theme for a march-like tune. But I like “Landschape # 2” the best, with a combination of a folk tune with world music influences, a great bass clarinet solo over great percussive work by Pacho and a beautiful viloa solo by Parrini.

Variation enough, actually the tunes changes every few minutes, even the longest ones, yet despite that, the whole is pretty coherent. For some listeners there might be a little too much stylistic variation, though.

L’intrigante sottotitolo – ventiquattro improvvisazioni su pianoforti rotti e scordati trovati a New York – sintetizza perfettamente il contenuto. Nicola Cipani ha cercato per due anni pianoforti in cattive condizione nella zona di New York (città dove vive facendo il professore di italiano all’università) e con essi ha registrato questo “The lll-Tempered Piano”, ironico contraltare del clavicembalo bachiano, nel riverbero di magazzini e fabbriche abbandonate. Lo ascoltiamo dunque mentre passa da strumenti semplicemente malconci, in cui la scordatura crea effetti flanger o chorus, a veri e propri catorci sui quali è impossibile per l’esecutore ritrovare i consueti riferimenti. Il piano suona (più o meno) come un sitar, uno xilofono, un synth, e i frammenti di melodia appaiono come disegnati dietro un vetro opaco che ne sfuma i contorni. Pur incappando in qualche secca, dalla quale i suoni delcati da maneggiare e la carenza di appigli melodici non aiutano a uscire, Cipani è bravo a suonare i difetti dello strumento davanti al quale di volta in volta si siede, e a reagire agli stimoli imprevedibili che gli arrivano (ogni nota di un pianoforte scordato è un tuffo nel buio).L’intrigante sottotitolo – ventiquattro improvvisazioni su pianoforti rotti e scordati trovati a New York – sintetizza perfettamente il contenuto. Nicola Cipani ha cercato per due anni pianoforti in cattive condizione nella zona di New York (città dove vive facendo il professore di italiano all’università) e con essi ha registrato questo “The lll-Tempered Piano”, ironico contraltare del clavicembalo bachiano, nel riverbero di magazzini e fabbriche abbandonate. Lo ascoltiamo dunque mentre passa da strumenti semplicemente malconci, in cui la scordatura crea effetti flanger o chorus, a veri e propri catorci sui quali è impossibile per l’esecutore ritrovare i consueti riferimenti. Il piano suona (più o meno) come un sitar, uno xilofono, un synth, e i frammenti di melodia appaiono come disegnati dietro un vetro opaco che ne sfuma i contorni. Pur incappando in qualche secca, dalla quale i suoni delcati da maneggiare e la carenza di appigli melodici non aiutano a uscire, Cipani è bravo a suonare i difetti dello strumento davanti al quale di volta in volta si siede, e a reagire agli stimoli imprevedibili che gli arrivano (ogni nota di un pianoforte scordato è un tuffo nel buio).

Italian pianist now living in New York, Nicola Cipani gives us one of the most joyful instant recordings this year. His choice of music making was to utilize broken and almost unrecognizable untuned pianos he found in various warehouses. Okay, better heard than read from a piece of paper (or computer screen), these sometimes cranky, sometimes otherworldly boxes of strings remind you that the piano (and a few clavichords) are percussive instruments. Things rattle, children’s simple songs are plunked, parts ache, and buzz. Cipani’s concept seemingly never lags, nor repeats. The tunes are all bare bone compositions, averaging only 2 minutes in length, with the longest at five minutes and the shortest, just 32 seconds. “Macrominiature” is an off balanced set of chimes and vibrating chords, “True Story” has plucked strings, while “Scemofonia” sounds like very familiar bells rung via a vibraphone. Cipani’s imagination is unbounded. He sometimes plays simple songs, other times winds up a crazy player piano, as on “Outsourced Music.” If the strange and the beautiful is appealing to you, don’t miss this record. Tom Waits will be sampling these sounds.Italian pianist now living in New York, Nicola Cipani gives us one of the most joyful instant recordings this year. His choice of music making was to utilize broken and almost unrecognizable untuned pianos he found in various warehouses. Okay, better heard than read from a piece of paper (or computer screen), these sometimes cranky, sometimes otherworldly boxes of strings remind you that the piano (and a few clavichords) are percussive instruments. Things rattle, children’s simple songs are plunked, parts ache, and buzz. Cipani’s concept seemingly never lags, nor repeats. The tunes are all bare bone compositions, averaging only 2 minutes in length, with the longest at five minutes and the shortest, just 32 seconds. “Macrominiature” is an off balanced set of chimes and vibrating chords, “True Story” has plucked strings, while “Scemofonia” sounds like very familiar bells rung via a vibraphone. Cipani’s imagination is unbounded. He sometimes plays simple songs, other times winds up a crazy player piano, as on “Outsourced Music.” If the strange and the beautiful is appealing to you, don’t miss this record. Tom Waits will be sampling these sounds.