Alessandro di Battista Assange

Stefano di Battista (born February 14, 1969 in Rome) is an Italian jazz saxophonist who plays soprano and alto.

Ennio Morricone’s film music provides an infinite treasure trove of creative thinking, associated with the most varied of images. It is also extremely versatile, just waiting to be delved into, reworked and rediscovered – his compositions would still be equally enjoyable and perfectly recognizable performed by a Bulgarian choir or a quintet of ocarinas. But throwing jazz into the mix takes things to a whole new level, creating what feels like a perfect match, a natural, perhaps even inevitable partnership. This stems in part from a distinctive feature of Morricone’s music: it places highly emotional melodies within a texture of intelligent harmonies, and jazz does exactly the same, particularly in the hands of someone like Stefano Di Battista.

Blue Note's French division released Stefano Di Battista's debut, A Prima Vista, in 1998, but this self-titled disc is the alto and soprano saxophonist's first offering to be made available in the U.S. It comes on the heels of a high-profile guest appearance on Jacky Terrasson's A Paris… and, fittingly, Di Battista hired his friend Terrasson to be the pianist on his own record. Also present for the session are bassist Rosario Bonaccorso and drum legend Elvin Jones, with trumpeter Flavio Boltro sitting in on three tracks. Di Battista evinces a true melodic gift on pieces such as "Elvin's Song" and "Your Romance," but he's also capable of burning it up in a manner reminiscent of Kenny Garrett on "Nico's Dream" and "Adderley." (For those who suspect Elvin Jones' chops have lessened with age, the two latter cuts ought to dispel such notions.)

Over the years, Stefano di Battista has cultivated the extraordinary virtuosity and generosity that now marks him out as one of the most talked about musicians on the international scene in the last decade. This one-of-a-kind musician-composer has long been keen on paying tribute to the exceptional women whose existence has left its mark on the twentieth century, hence his project "Woman’s land". In this work, Stefano di Battista tells the story in music of Italian actress Anna Magnani, American singer Ella Fitzgerald, Russian astronaut Valentina Tereskova and French designer Coco Chanel. The opening of the 11th Festival sees Stefano di Battista presenting exclusively as a quintet this new album, his seventh as leader in his field.

Virtuosos proven and deemed, not to this directory that these two heavyweights gathered here. With this album, Stefano Di Battista and Sylvain Luc revisit the film music by sharing their inspiration generated from their homes by the original versions. On some songs, the subjects expressed are clearly identifiable in others, they are suggested by bit, a few notes that can recognize a work in seconds. And the magic happens. Sylvain and Stefano had fun like kids who are forbidden nothing, they took pleasure is sincere and palpable, it reflects on all of the album which is also found Daniele Sorrentino on bass and bass and Pierre-Francois Dufour on drums and cello.

Un Di Battista dal multiforme ingegno, parafrasando Omero, in veste di leader, sassofonista sia soprano che contralto e compositore di quasi tutti i brani di "Trouble Shootin'". Brani influenzati dai giganti del passato (Cannonball e il Duca su tutti), com'e giusto che sia, ma mai scontati o al sapor di "gia sentito". La creativita del sassofonista romano si fa sentire sin dalla prima traccia, "I Will Love You", per poi esplodere in pezzi come "Under Her Spell" (intesa perfetta tra sax e tromba) e "Alexanderplatz Blues", in onore di uno dei locali piu cari a Stefano. Solo tre le cover, omaggi a Bobby Timmons, Kenny Burrell e Horace Silver, cover (tanto per restare in sintonia col resto del disco) decisamente interessanti.