E.E.R.
Tino Tracanna & Corrado Guarino, Gesualdo (71:48); CDH 677.2, 1999
SPLASC(H) Records
Contact: Luigi Santosuosso, Grand Wazoo Productions
Flat 2, 15 St. Stephens Gardens
London W2 5QU
E-mail: grand.wazoo@pobox.com
This is an Italian crew playing music of Italian pedigree, and
playing it with an impeccably contemporary jazz flair. Five of the
nine tracks are by Gesualdo da Venosa, a post-Renaissance composer
whose dates are 1560-1613. The remaining four tracks were inspired by
Gesualdo but composed by conductor/arranger Corrado Guarino, except
for "Itene," by saxophonist Tino Tracanna. Guarino also arranged the
Gesualdo pieces.
Jazz has been borrowing from classical music for decades, but
seldom has anyone gone back as far as the 16th century. Indeed, you
might consider an Italian madrigal composer an unlikely source of
inspiration for modern jazz musicians. But the press packet explains
that Gesualdo was "at the crossroads between modal and tonal
conceptions of Western music." And the liner notes further explain
that the modal/tonal encounter is "strikingly evident in
Afro-American music." Jazz and baroque therefore have something to
offer one another. It makes sense. I've often heard hints of
pre-modern harmony in the music of trumpeter Kenny Wheeler, for
instance.
The instrumentation chosen for this project is quite similar
to the "double quartet" used by saxophonist Ted Nash on his brilliant
CD Rhyme & Reason (Arabesque, 1999). Hip jazz tempos and time
feels - always latin- or funk-derived, never swing - coexist with
bona fide early chamber music. Strings play background lines behind
soloists in the manner of Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers. Maria
Pia De Vito is clearly a trained classical singer but can scat with
the best of them, as she does on "Sol," "Chi," and "S� gioioso mi
fanni i dolor miei." And Tracanna's tenor and soprano solos are
consistently riveting, perfectly suiting the mood of each piece.
Claudio Pontiggia's deft French horn solos also deserve mention. All
the while, the jazz/baroque juxtaposition is never forced or
contrived. The elements inform one another seamlessly, almost
imperceptibly.
~David R. Adler, 1/6/00
Personnel: Maria Pia De Vito, voice; Tino Tracanna, tenor and soprano
saxes; Claudio Pontiggia, french horn; Riccardo Parrucci, flute;
Gloria Merani, violin; Alessandro Franconi, viola; Filippo
Burchietti, cello; Paolino Dalla Porta, bass; Francesco Petreni,
drums; Fulvio Maras, percussion; Corrado Guarino, conducting and
arrangements, except "Itene," by Tino Tracanna.
Tracks: 1. Se vi duol il mio duolo (Gesualdo) 2. S� (Guarino) 3. S�
gioioso mi fanni i dolor miei (Gesualdo) 4. Oh, dolce mio tesoro
(Gesualdo) 5. Ancide sol la morte (Gesualdo) 6. Sol (Guarino) 7.
Itene (Tracanna) 8. Chi (Guarino) 9. Moro lasso al mio duolo
(Gesualdo).
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