Unscientific Italians - Play the music of Bill Frisell Vol​.​1 (May 21, 2021 Hora Records)

May 21st, 2021 will mark the start of the Italian label Hora Records with the release of Unscientific Italians Play The Music of Bill Frisell – Volume 1. The ensemble Unscientific Italians, led by Alfonso Santimone, features some of the most gifted performers and bandleaders on the Italian scene.

Born in 2008 for a small feature of the Italian collective/label El Gallo Rojo at Centro D'Arte in Padova, this project went into hibernation for more than 10 years and came back in 2020, with a revised lineup and repertoire, for 2 days of rehearsals, concerts (at Torrione Jazz Club in Ferrara) and recordings (at Teatro Asioli in Correggio).

Bill Frisell is undoubtedly one of the most influential masters in today’s jazz landscape. However, his compositions remain unexplored, perhaps because of a lack of critical distance, perhaps because their apparent simplicity hides impenetrable folds to those who lack the right perspective.

Musically speaking, Unscientific Italians is not a tribute or an orchestral rendition of Frisell’s music, but rather an idiosyncratic rewriting and orchestration that borrows his compositional and instrumental language. This work has also a documentary value, since it draws from a seminal phase of Frisell’s production – the early Nineties – that today seems to be neglected despite his unambiguous celebration by audience and critics.

This release is published on vinyl and digitally, with the blessing of Bill Frisell himself, who generously offered some of his sketches for the cover artwork.

1. Before We Were Born

2. Probability Cloud

3. Unsung Heroes

4. Hangdog

5. Rob Roy

6. Twenty Years

7. Verona

Mirco Rubegni trumpet, flugelhorn, french horn

Fulvio Sigurtà trumpet, flugelhorn

Filippo Vignato trombone

Federico Pierantoni trombone

Cristiano Arcelli alto sax, soprano sax, bass clarinet

Piero Bittolo Bon alto sax, clarinet, bass clarinet

Francesco Bigoni tenor sax, clarinet, live electronics on brass

Rossano Emili baritone sax, bass clarinet

Alfonso Santimone piano, live electronics on clarinets

Danilo Gallo double bass

Zeno De Rossi drums

All compositions by Bill Frisell (Friz-Tone Music BMI)

Arranged and conducted by Alfonso Santimone

Produced by Unscientific Italians and Hora Records

Recorded October 22-23, 2019 at Teatro Asioli, Correggio (RE), Italy

Recording Engineer: Diego Bergamini

Mixed by Alfonso Santimone @ blackHole unLTD

Mastered by Giovanni Versari at La Maestà, Tredozio (FC), Italy

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Nelson Pari - Defining (2018)

"Defining," the latest EP from guitarist Nelson Pari is a showcase for his growth as a composer. At times, the music can be beboppish, straight-ahead or progressive. At all times, the music’s depth is captured in its emotion-filled melodies that are put forth and explored by a group of musicians who know what to do with such outstanding material. - Walter Kolosky (Author of Power, Passion and Beauty: The Legendary Story of the Mahavishnu Orchestra and host of the Jazz Rocks Podcast.) 

During my time in music college my teacher Giorgio Serci referred to me as a “pragmatic dreamer” and this EP is dedicated to him, as he is my favourite pragmatic dreamer of all.

1. Meet The Guv'nor

2. Over Dalston Junction

3. The Blue Arrow 1

Nelson Pari - Guitar

Simone La Maida - Sax

Fulvio Sigurta' - Trumpet

Claudio Vignali - Piano/Rhodes

Stefano Senni - Double Bass

Marco Frattini - Drums

Sebastiano Dessanay UK Quartet - Restless Dreams (2018)

Restless Dreams is the latest album by Sebastiano Dessanay, which features his UK Quartet with Fulvio Sigurtà on trumpet, Bruno Heinen on piano and James Bashford on drums. 

The album took a long time to be conceived and realised, and it includes all original compositions by Sebastiano, some of which are rearranged tunes from his chamber opera The Cry of the Double Bass (www.thecryofthedoublebass.co.uk). 

Restless Dreams was beautifully recorded in Cagliari at janeStudios by American sound engineer Marti Jane Robertson. The cover photos are by Francesca Ardau and the stunning cover artwork by Giampaolo Gerra.

1. Prologue 00:45

2. Guarujá 04:57

3. Father and Son 04:28

4. Mother 08:45

5. Two Riffs 07:26

6. Restless Dreams 06:45

7. Norma 04:36

8. Oh My Soul 06:01

9. Epilogue 01:47

All compositions by Sebastiano Dessanay

Fulvio Sigurtà, trumpet and flugelhorn

Bruno Heinen, piano

Sebastiano Dessanay, double bass

James Bashford, drums

Recorded on 13 and 14 of April 2017 at janeStudio, Cagliari

Sound Engineers: Marti Jane Robertson and Michele Rovelli

Assistant Engineer: Marzia Bulli

Mix and Mastering: Marti Jane Roberston

Produced by Sebastiano Dessanay

Artwork by Giampaolo Gerra

Fulvio Sigurtà - The Oldest Living Thing (2015)

Back from the intriguing experience of “SPL” (in trio with Andrea Lombardini on bass guitar and Alessandro Paternesi on drums), a modern record with surprising turns, Fulvio Sigurtà is back with a more classically jazz album. Supported by Steve Swallow’s stunning bass guitar and Federico Casagrande’s refined acoustic guitar, Sigurtà’s trumpet and flugelhorn weave soft, enchanting melodies. You may let yourself be lulled by the first song and title track on this album, written by the band leader, and Casagrande’s “Sorrows And Joys Of A Lamb”. The two regularly alternate as writers of the nine original tracks on “The Oldest Living Thing”, composed by one or the other in more or less equal measure. The only virtual guest here is Ennio Morricone, who is involved thanks to an appealing reinterpretation of the theme from “Nuovo Cinema Paradiso”.  Sigurtà and his fellow travelers have looked for (and actually found) dazzling melodies throughout this fifty-minute long recording.

From a musical idea unfold outstanding plots by the three instruments, with horns and guitar that often alternate with one another in leading the dance and Swallow’s bass that supports it all with valuable skill and excellent taste, watching the scene from behind the lines and emerging here and there with sophisticated virtuosities and a voice always utterly recognizable. Although the temperament and uniqueness of the sound of the powerful bass player from New Jersey is no surprise, one can rightly be a little amazed by the continuous growth of Sigurtà and Casagrande: the former has mastered a variety of timbres that would make many players envious (the intro to “Sunday Snow Flakes” is a case in point), while the latter invents sounds and harmonies that perfectly combine with the band leader’s ideas (“Travel Back”). This steadily evolving leader showed four completely different sides of his musical personality in his past four albums on CAM JAZZ: one of the talents among the new generation of Italian jazzmen who is worthy of being listened to most attentively.

Fulvio Sigurtà (Trumpet, Flugelhorn)

Steve Swallow (Electric Bass)

Federico Casagrande (Acoustic Guitar)

The Oldest Living Thing

Sorrows And Joys Of A Lamb

Helichrysum

Marmotte

Sunday Snow Flakes

Travel Back

Nuovo Cinema Paradiso

The Olive Tree Of Noah

Loft

The Oldest Living Thing (Duo)

BUY THIS ALBUM!!!

JAVI