London and NYC Club and Concert Listings
|
Album Review: Gerardo Frisina - Hi Note (Schema)
Reviewer: Oliver Scott
Buongiorno! I read once that every Italian citizen consumes forty ounces of coffee every year, which probably explains why
they tend to gesticulate so much. But anyway, you’ve got to admit that Italy and jazz music go together very well. La Dolce
Vita and all that. What’s more, the country has always been both extraordinary welcoming to jazz musicians and recently,
has produced some quality music of their own by the likes of the LTJ Experience, Nicola Conte, Rosalia de Souza and, indeed,
Gerardo Frisina.
What comes over most strongly on Frisina’s new Schema album Hi Note is that it's a well balanced combination of the
warmth and fun of the aforementioned jazz tradition with newer, electronic sounds. The second song here, the aptly titled
Joyas starts in a breezy bossa style, with just enough syncopation to suggest that it was recorded with an eye on
the modern dance floor, before breaking into a subtle but propulsive drum and bass rhythm.
Intenso’s (the first single) walking bassline and splashy cymbals are complemented with swinging vibes, reminiscent
of some of Johnny Lytle’s work, and it gradually builds up into a groove akin to one of St Germain’s best moments.
The one vocal tune here, Beyond the Moon, has Alan Farrington doing his finest Mark Murphy impersonation, but I can
forgive him that as he is totally putting his heart into it, and it really lifts the record’s mood. Cubana rather
cheekily nicks the bass line from Ray Bryant’s Cubano Chant, and turns it into a kind of
salsa/house number, and On the Edge has an sinister soundtrack feel.
Hi Note perhaps suffers from getting a bit ‘acid jazz by numbers’ towards the end, and I would have liked to have
heard a few more vocals. But it’s all good, and is played not just technically well, but with real enthusiasm and love by
the musicians Frisina has assembled.
Schema have previously put out compilations of material recorded in Italy by the Bolland/Clarke Big Band and Sahib Shihab,
and that’s the kind of sound Frisima is aiming at here - jazz with a slightly modern and distinctly Italian accent.
RELATED LINKS:
Discography
Schema
RELEASE DATE: Monday 12 January 2004 (UK/US)
PUBLISHED: Sunday 14 December 2003
To send us music for potential inclusion, email us at
promos@knowtheledge.net
More Reviews
EMAIL UPDATES! Do you want to receive Know The Ledge update emails?
Click here to sign up!
|
::: RELATED LINKS
Discography
Schema
More Reviews
|
