Trovesi Fugasi

L'Arpeggiata's previous recordings have blended popular or folk-inspired elements with music of the Baroque in striking and imaginative ways. 'All'Improviso' takes this melting-pot approach even further, combining the Baroque ostinato bass with improvisatory techniques from both the historically aware stream of 21st-century music-making and of jazz through the participation of the clarinettist Gianluigi Trovesi.

Cecil Taylor - The Owner of the River Bank (2003) {Enja Records ENJ-9465 2 rec 2000}
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© 2000, 2003 Enja Records | ENJ-9465 2
Jazz / Post Bop / Modern Creative / Piano

The single piece by Cecil Taylor lasts an hour. It was recorded during the second of two concerts given to celebrate the first ten years of the Italian Instabile Orchestra. This was part of the Talos Festival in Ruvo di Puglia, in Southern Italy, on September 10, 2000. From the sounds of an orchestra warming up, to a subdued conclusion that rumbles deeply and insignificantly, Taylor’s piece takes his audience on a journey through scenery that changes gradually and often. Indistinct human voices can be heard along the way; so can the sounds of trumpet valves clacking, saxophone keys tapping, reed mouthpieces chattering, brass mouthpieces kissing, and tympani rolling along.

The Castel del Monte near Ruvo di Puglia, Southern Italy, was the last and most beautiful building of Frederick II (1194-1250), Roman emperor and King of Sicily. It dominates the Apulian landscape like a white crystal, a fata morgana beyond time and space whose original purpose will probably be a mystery forever. When German producer Achim Hebgen and French musician Michel Godard visited the castle together, they felt there should be music created in and for the building - music that is simultaneously in the past, the present and the future. Cooperating with some of the finest musicians from Italy, France and Switzerland (most of them known from the project La Banda), they imagined a timeless musical synthesis based on old forms (e.g. chaconne, folia, tarantella), yet open to the inspiring eternal atmosphere of the mysterious Castel del Monte.

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.

The group was founded in 2006, performing a mixture of rockjazz and electronica, with krautrock, minimalist and psychedelic elements. Adriano Lanzi and Omar Sodano had been working together since year 2000, releasing some tracks on compilation albums and a full album (La Vita Perfetta, 2004) on the German Klangbad label.
After some live gigs as a duo, they felt the need to set a larger band up. After a series of one-off collaborations, they found like-minded conspirators in Francesco Mendolia, drummer with the ability to perform in a wide range of styles from jazz/funk to electronic music (Chester Harlan, Alessandro Gwiss, Mino Freda)…

After the intoxicating heat of Mediterraneo, released in 2013, Christina Pluhar and her ensemble L'Arpeggiata now head to the cooler climes of England with Music for a While, an album based on the haunting, graceful and sometimes deeply moving music of Henry Purcell.