Kosmopolites Paolo Fresu

E via, tutti a dire: "il jazz incontra la classica" e viceversa, "Fresu lirico", "il trombettista sardo improvvisa sui canoni classici" e così ruzzolando nella banalità menzognera. La prima verità è che "Vinodentro" è una colonna sonora dell'omonimo film di Ferdinando Vicentini Orgnani, che ha nel cast Giovanna Mezzogiorno e Vincenzo Amato. La seconda è che Fresu non è nuovo a lavori di questo tenore musicale: l'elenco sarebbe troppo lungo e tedioso.

With 850,000 volumes, 120,000 old books and a collection of 7,500 newspapers, the Municipal Library of the Archiginnasio of Bologna is a place steeped in history. It was here, in early 2021, that Paolo Fresu decided to celebrate his own history. For his 60th birthday, the Sardinian trumpet player gathered a handful of relatives for an exceptional concert, obviously without an audience. Together with bandoneonist Daniele di Bonaventura, pianist Dino Rubino, double bassist Marco Bardoscia and the Alborada Quartet, he wandered through various rooms in this magnificent library performing pieces in his own style. A colourful and hybrid jazz, European at heart and always strolling around.

Mare Nostrum's biggest surprise isn't its instrumentation – a trio of accordion, trumpet and piano – but how natural the combination sounds in its execution. Of course, Italian trumpeter Paolo Fresu, French accordion player Richard Galliano (who is of Italian offspring), and Swedish pianist Jan Lundgren are well-known, critically praised jazz musicians who have all been known to eschew musical boundaries and defy genre limitations, so the music on Mare Nostrum – an album co-led by all three – shouldn't come as a surprise, nor should its quality, and yet not everybody would have expected such marvelous results. The 15 compositions on the album include originals by all three musicians and several covers, touching upon jazz, tango, classical music, and folk.

Paolo Fresu 5et - Songlines / Night & Blue (2010) {2CD Tuk Music 8034135080059}
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© 2010 Tuk Music / My Favorite Music | 8034135080059
Jazz / Modern Jazz / Post Bop / Trumpet

Paolo Fresu's Songlines/Night & Blue is a beautiful performance by a musician who does not feel compelled to prove himself with pyrotechnics. Instead, on this two-disc set, the Italian trumpeter prefers speaking his piece with lush melodies and a rich full horn sound, supported by an exceptional quartet. Being an Italian album, it seems appropriate to use a few musical terms. The entire affair, around 140 minutes in length, is taken sostenuto (smoothly), with a pace that slides between adagio (slowly) and andante (walking), but never goes much faster than that. But this down-tempo consistency should not be confused with sloth. Everything here is tightly played, with some real intensity from the musicians; it's just not going to wake the neighbors with frenetic thunder.

While it's true that trumpeter and composer Paolo Fresu works in a variety of settings from trio to sextet, it is arguable that his quintets present him with the finest opportunities for creative expression.
This date, a covers-only collection of ballads by Ellington and Strayhorn, Mingus, Monk, Johnny Mercer, etc., has all the hallmarks of a classic Fresu set. For starters, the band is amazing: Tino Tracanna on tenor, Roberto Cipelli on piano, Attilio Zanchi on bass, and Ettore Fioravanti on drums offer Fresu a wide palette for expressing the many shades and textures of the jazz ballad.

Trumpeter Paolo Fresu is ubiquitous on both the Italian and international jazz scenes. Unlike many of his countrymen, Fresu doesn't dabble; he's a fully committed jazzer, so it's not a surprise that this set is in the contemporary creative jazz vein. But to call it stodgy or old fashioned would be to miss the point; this is some of the most forward-looking ensemble composing and playing that the Italians have come up with – and it beats the hell out of a lot of stuff on this side of the Atlantic, and even gives the Dutch semi-big bands a run for their money. Fresu's front line consists of himself, Gianluigi Trovesi on bass clarinet and alto, Tino Tracanna on soprano and tenor, Roberto Cipelli on piano, Attilo Zanchi on bass, and Ettore Firoavanti on skins.

A prolific, award-winning Italian trumpet and flügelhorn player known for his warm tone and lyrical style. His style is based on the classic Miles Davis sound of the '50s, and the very lineup of his quintet is reminiscent of Davis' group, with excellent tenor Tino Tracanna. They mostly play originals and the music flows fresh and engaging, never a mere imitation.

Paolo Fresu Quintet was founded in 1984 by the will of Paolo Fresu and Roberto Cipelli and today is rightfully part of the history of the modern Italian jazz, celebrating - with the same original training - thirty years of life, a very rare thing in'entire history of African American music.