Romano Battagliq

Aldo Romano: "In 1959, the "Living Theater", co-directed by Judith Malina and Julian Beck, created the Jack Gelber play "The Connection". This is a play within a play; the producer Jim Dunn, and the writer Jaybird, want to show the unseen of the life of the addicts to hard drugs. They have one thing in common: the expectation of "the connection", we would say the dealer today, which should give them the powder. This is a camera in a slum rented by a crazy man, Leach. There's four or five clueless in need and a jazz quartet that plays waiting for their dealer "Cowboy".
The play, which will become a film directed by Shirley Clarke in 1961, will be performed in New York, London, Los Angeles, Italy, Germany, Scandinavia, the Living Theater and a jazz quartet led by pianist Freddie Redd and Jackie McLean on alto sax…

The ensemble Aedes began it's musical journey with Poulenc, under the impetus of conductor Mathieu Romano. Here, at the head of Les Siècles, Romano returns to the unclassifiable composer to record two of his major works. In the pious contemplation of the Litanies, here performed in the manuscript version, and the orchestral luxuriance of the Stabat Mater, spirituality is expressed through music that is lively, sensitive and even, at times, sensuous. Sculpting out every phrase and note, always at the service of the text, the ensemble and Mathieu Romano confirm their affinity with the composer's language. As an interlude Mathieu Romano has included a secular piece, O doulx regard, o parler gratieux, by the Renaissance composer Clément Janequin. The boundaries between earthly love and mystical love are thus abolished in favor of pure emotion.

Originally released in 2004, features Danilo Rea (piano) & Remi Vignolo (bass).
Although born in Italy, Aldo Romano moved to France with his family at a young age. He was already playing guitar and drums professionally in Paris in the '50s when he heard Donald Byrd's group with drummer Arthur Taylor. Since then, he has dedicated himself to the drums and contemporary jazz. In Paris jazz clubs like le Chat Qui Pêche and the Caméléon, Romano has accompanied visiting Americans like Jackie McLean, Bud Powell, Lucky Thompson, J.J. Johnson, and Woody Shaw while also exploring free music with Don Cherry and Gato Barbieri, Frank Wright and Bobby Few, Michel Portal, François Tusques, Jean-Louis Chautemps, and Steve Lacy…

Written between 1887 and 1890, Gabriel Fauré's Requiem is among the best-loved pieces in the choral repertory. Traditionally, Requiems are serious, prayerful laments for the dead. Fauré's was altogether different. In place of the usual somber mood, his is noted for it's calm, serene and peaceful outlook. The composer revised and expanded the work several times, but it is the original version that is performed here using period instruments and performance practices. This sublimne recording, featuring Ensemble Aedes and Les Siècles led by Mathieu Romano, also includes Poulenc's Figure Humaine and Debussy's Trois Chansons

Francesco Cavalli was an important musical figure in 17th Century Venice. As a student of, and later, successor to Claudio Monteverdi, he was the leader of St. Mark’s Cathedral in Venice. He also served as head of the Venetian operatic school and was very highly regarded as a composer of religious and operatic music in his day. Unfortunately, he was reluctant to have his compositions published, and therefore, is virtually unknown to modern audiences.

Christian Escoudé, electric guitar; Jacques Vidal, bass; Aldo Romano, drums, acoustic guitar. Recorded at Emmequattro Studio, Roma, December 1979. Producers, Alberto Alberti, Sergio Veschi. Executive producer, Sergio Veschi.