Category: 2019

Ghost Rhythms – Live At Yoshiwara [Cuneiform Records 2019]

By Marcello Nardi Dec 29, 2019 0

Live at Yoshiwara is like a kaleidoscope: simple, yet complicated; intuitive, yet brainy; rejoycing, yet haunting. Classical cadences, jazz brass energy, proggish breaks, afro and folk influences all cooperate around catchy melodies. The audience discovers new feats under the surface of every bar turning into another. A manifesto of non-existent places of music in the fictionary universe of Ghost Rhythms

Samuel Hällkvist Dekorum – Live [Boogiepost 2019]

By Marcello Nardi Dec 6, 2019 0

Conscious I am liable of that concise flattery typical of many magazines reviews, I can’t escape calling Samuel Hällkvist Dekorum live album as the perfect example of what would happen if “Bill Frisell played King Crimson’s Frame by Frame“. Boldly mixing americana flavors with flamboyant interlocking guitars within the framework of a raw and aggressive energy, the Swedish guitarist and his quartet Dekorum craft a piece of music that is way more intricate than it seems

Mark Wingfield and Gary Husband – Tor & Vale [MoonJune 2019]

By Marcello Nardi Nov 25, 2019 0

Guitarist Mark Wingfield and pianist Gary Husband put our perception of time on hold, and start navigating a free form land, embarking in an innermost quest into Time itself. Evoking the refined dialogues between John Abercrombie and Richie Beirach in Abercrombie‘s first quartet, or the intimate interchanges between Ralph Towner and John Taylor in Azimuth’s Depart, the two write a chapter of incredible beauty in their Tor & Vale. Feeling no constraint to go deeper and deeper, they make music for people who listen to time, by people who listen to time

Sonar with David Torn – Tranceportation Vol.1 [RareNoise 2019]

By Marcello Nardi Nov 17, 2019 0

What initially started as a follow-up of Vortex, eventually sprawled to more than 80 minutes of music and became a double album, whose second volume will be released in May 2020. In a move equal parts bold and conservative, Tranceportation Vol. 1 is moving the music of Sonar and their collaboration with David Torn ahead. Staying faithful to one of the rules that lies underneath the music of many Swiss postmininal musicians, that which says that minimal structures do not cage the music, instead unleash a new world of possibilities, Sonar and David Torn are now delving into new depths

Thor de Force – Sounds of the Mansion [2019 Ropeadope]

By Marcello Nardi Nov 12, 2019 0

Sounds of the Mansion is an hide and seek game, from the listening point of view: Thor de Force is always letting the listener believe she or he knows exactly what’s going to happen, but then the driver steers in another direction. A record that is a refinement of Madsen’s skills in combining masterfully crafted arrangements and a sense of improvisation that pervades even the most intricate sections and creative hooks: the outcome is a juicy and explorative electro jazz work

Joseph Branciforte & Theo Bleckmann – LP1 [greyfade 2019]

By Marcello Nardi Jul 12, 2019 0

Interview with Joseph Branciforte – May 2019. LP1 is a deep exploration of the organic interaction between voice and electronics. Yet what is most astonishing is how Joseph Branciforte and Theo Bleckmann use their means, organic and eletronic, to lift their interaction to such a level of interconnection, thus making it impossible to even hear the subtle nuances each is bringing at individual level, if one does not listen to them as a whole