Marcello Tonolo Quartet (feat. Chris Cheek plus Four) - Crazeology (May 2021 Caligola Records)

After two, among other things excellent, albums of standards recorded at the head of what is now his permanent trio, Marcello Tonolo returns to give breath to his music, emphasizing two of his main qualities: a refined compositional taste and a wise use of arrangements. The core, formed by the proven and solid rhythm section of Marco Privato and Jimmy Weinstein, remains, in continuity with the two previous recordings, but there is more this time: an important and original instrumental voice from the New York jazz scene, that of saxophonist Chris Cheek, real added value of the project, which gives an important contribution of ideas and pathos, besides the already taken for granted technical and professional skills.

The decision to add a wind quartet formed by young people, of great talent and secure future, in four of the nine tracks, makes this already weighty work even more valuable. In these tracks the group becomes an octet, which, according to Tonolo, already has the pleasant taste of an orchestra, a team that has always been congenial to him, as attested by the tenacious efforts made to keep alive until possible the Keptorchestra first, and the Thelonious Monk Big Band after.

Particularly successful are the arrangements of his own compositions like L’albero – among other things, the only song in which Cheek plays the soprano – and the evocative Borderline, but also of a little known jazz standard as When lights are low, by Benny Carter. The Quartet, for its part, runs unbridled, managing to outdo itself in songs like the spirited Evening star, also signed by the leader, the intense final short ballad, Margherita, composed by Jimmy Weinstein, and the personal, compelling reinterpretation of Crazeology, not surprisingly chosen also as the title of the album. 

1. Leo, Lion y Leon 04:53

2. L'albero 07:59

3. Walk Away 08:39

4. When Lights Are Low 06:32

5. Evening Star 06:05

6. Lazy Afternoon 09:28

7. Crazeology 06:41

8. Borderline 05:35

9. Margherita 03:24

Chris Cheek (tenor and soprano sax)

Marcello Tonolo (piano, arrangements)

Marco Privato (double bass)

Jimmy Weinstein (drums)

Guests:

Pasquale Paterra and Antonello Del Sordo (trumpets)

Federico Pierantoni (trombone)

Mattia Dalla Pozza (alto sax)

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Omit Five - Omit Five (CALIGOLA RECORDS 2018)

Omit Five was born in 2010 in the Conservatory of Rovigo, as an extension of the laboratory of improvisation of the Master Degree courses. Drawing his inspiration from jazz masters such as Miles Davis, Wayne Shorter, Dave Douglas and Dave Holland, the quintet has quickly elaborated a proposal that is more and more personal, succeeding in creating a repertoire of original tunes which have become part of this first but already convincing recording. Certainly the self–esteem of the band was enhanced by the victory obtained in the jazz section of the National Prize of the Arts 2010/2011, in which bands from all over Italy had taken part. Only one year later Omit Five have other new finished songs, already played live and that will constitute their now forthcoming second album. Tying the post–bop tradition with completely acoustic sonorities, the quintet winks at what new has emerged during the last years from the New Yorker and north–European vanguard scene. Even if they are all about 25 years old, the musicians have been able to lessen juvenile passion and enthusiasm with the rationality derived from their studies with the Rovigo’s teachers Moreover, Omit Five express the attempt to merge two different geographical areas, a southern one, represented by the drummer Simone Sferruzza, from Palermo, and the guitarist Joseph Circelli, from Campania, and a Venetian one. This area is related to the trombonist Filippo Vignato, from Vicenza, who has moved some time ago to the Venice dry land, where the saxophonist Mattia Dalla Pozza and the double bass player Rosa Brunello work too. Among the ten tracks, if the suggestive Oclupaca, which is one of the little–known songs of the last Ellington’s production, and Shiny things, by Tom Waits, are excluded, two compositions are by Brunello, two by Vignato, one by Sferruzza and three by Circelli. 

Thus Omit Five’s music is the result of a really collective and equal work, where even the varied timbric and rhythmic–harmonic solutions, resulting from the taste and sensibility of the different composers, are nevertheless attributable to a well–defined sonority. This could already suffice to be satisfied of what has been achieved in such a short time by five jazzmen we shall surely hear a lot about soon.