Dino Plasmati & LJP Big Band (Special Guest Bobby Watson) - Matera encounters (ALFA MUSIC 2018)

There’s no time to waste!

When you listen to the first notes coming from the piano, you immediately get caught in the flow of music and emotions coming from the nine tunes chosen by Dino Plasmati for a special encounter: his LJP Big Band with the great US jazz soloist Bobby Watson.

Guitarist, conductor and ensemble’s leader, Dino Plasmati chose the repertoire with care following some precise guidelines: a lively, joyful and constantly changing music able to lift the magnificent spirit of the band; a different approach to jazz tradition seen through uncommon/unique interpreters and composers; and last but not least, a superior strength coming from a larger ensemble, the impulse given by brass and wind sections and the dynamics that only a big band can perform/offer.

These are the distinctive features that clearly and consistently show the character of the LJP Big Band.

The amused and daring character of the band is soon revealed, together with the ability to captivate the audience with an effervescent mood amplified by a repertoire always performed in a dynamic and straightforward style. What’s more, even if the ballads keep a mellow sound, they never get schmaltzy but they are enlivened by an intense verve.

And finally, the funky nuances of Admiral's horn, the sparking reinterpretation of Soul Kitchen by the Doors, the hard-bop boost given by Groovin’ Hard and the close dialogue among sections in the intro of Big Mama Case remove all doubts and state the intentions of the band.

The presence of Mr Bobby Watson counterbalances the choice of working with tunes and authors/musicians who, although sticking to tradition, belong mainly to a newer generation when compared to big historical figures. As in the case of the saxophonist, we are dealing with musicians who breached the path marked by their predecessors in order to find new expressive possibilities. And, “standing on the shoulders of Giants”, to quote Isaac Newton, they emphasized their own personal intuitions and taste, thus proving that jazz music can evolve even from its inwards.

First as a member of Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers and afterwards as solo performer, Bobby Watson followed the same pattern: a predominant acoustic dimension, the coherent adherence to tradition without losing the opportunity to raise his distintive voice and suggest his own modern vision of the jazz language.

The combination of the soloist and the big band provides a fertile ground to put all that into place: dialogues and call-and-response among sections, the possibility to play with arrangements and to expand the tunes beyond the ‘usual’ sequence of theme and solos; the effect of dynamics. All these elements not only return but also multiply the expressive Energy that defines their character.

Dino Plasmati has been combining his activity as musician in smaller groups and his role as leader of the LJP Big Band for a long time now: the guitarist led his “creation” as a lab where growing and learning through constantly new challenges is the key and where different energies are channelled in order to be able to work with great International artists.

And so, there’s no time to waste...the piano has cued the music, soon the sections will rise up to play the first theme and soloists will get ready for their performances: we are already in the mood for music!

Fabio Ciminiera

Produced by Dino Plasmati & MiFaJazz Ass.

Production coordination Fabrizio Salvatore (AlfaMusic)

BOBBY WATSON and LJP BIG BAND

Bobby Watson alto sax

Dino Plasmati guitar and conductor

Nico Marziliano piano

Francesco Fossanova bass

Vito Plasmati drums

Saxophones

Michele Munno (as)

Claudio Chiarelli (as)

Angelo Manicone (ts)

Tommaso Capitolo (ts)

Vincenzo Appella (bs)

Trombones

Franco Angiulo

Raffaele Amato

Vincenzo Pace

Nino Bisceglie (bass tbn)

Trumpets

Luciano Palmitessa

Marco Sinno

Nicola Di Marzio

Emanuele Lamacchia

Soloists

1 - DOIN’ BASIE’S THING

Nico Marziliano (pf), Bobby Watson (as)

2 - BIG MAMA CASE

Dino Plasmati (g), Claudio Chiarelli (as), Nico Marziliano (pf), Bobby Watson (as)

3 - GROOVIN’ HARD

Angelo Manicone (ts)

4 - BASICALLY BLUES

Franco Angiulo (tbn), Angelo Manicone (ts), Boby Watson (as), Dino Plasmati (g)

5 - OVER THE RAINBOW

Bobby Watson (as)

6 - BROADWAY

Bobby Watson (as), Dino Plasmati (g) 7-ADMIRAL’S HORN Soloist: Bobby Watson (as)

7 – ADMIRAL’S HORN

Bobby Watson (as)

8 - DONNA

Nico Marziliano (pf), Bobby Watson (as)

9 - SOUL KITCHEN

Marco Sinno (tp), Claudio Chiarelli (as), Dino Plasmati (g), Bobby Watson (as)

Bobby Watson - Made in America (SMOKE SESSIONS RECORDS 2017)

JAZZ GREAT BOBBY WATSON celebrates some of the vital but less well-known contributions of African-Americans on Made in America, his first recording on Smoke Sessions Records. Saxophonist and composer Watson does his part to call attention to black pioneers in a variety of fields, from politics to pop culture, science to sports. These compositions are inspired by a few names that should be familiar to jazz fans&emdash; Sammy Davis, Jr., and Grant Green&emdash; but also by more obscure historic figures such as Wendell Pruitt, Butterfly McQueen, Major Taylor, Madam C.J. Walker, Isaac Murphy, Bass Reeves, and Dr. Mark Dean. Watson explains, “This project has been a history lesson for me and I hope it will be a history lesson for the listeners.”

Each piece paints its portrait with wit and feeling for the nuance of its subjects. The inspiration that Watson finds in these forgotten innovators comes through in his & emdash; and the band‘s & emdash; playing throughout the album. Watson‘s Kansas City roots shine through in the soulful swing and boisterous grooves that make for one hell of a funky history lesson. For this special project, Watson enlisted a few collaborators with whom he shares some significant history of his own: bassist Curtis Lundy, pianist Stephen Scott and drummer Lewis Nash. All four have tenures with the influential singer Betty Carter in common, while the album marks a welcome return to the scene for Scott, who has been largely silent for the last several years.

“This is not your typical jazz record,” Watson concludes. “I want to try, in the time I have left, to reflect the things that I‘m learning about history, about America and about the world and the people that came before me, and hopefully connect that with some of our young people and older people, both black and white.”