Simone Massaron – electric guitar, fretless electric guitar, electric lap steel, loops | Daniele Cavallanti – tenor saxophone | Steve Piccolo – bass & vocals | Elliot Sharp – electric guitar, electric lap steel | Tiziano Tononi – drums
Recorded at Newart Studio, september 18, 2005. Mixed at Newart Studio, october 2005. Recording Engineer: Paolo Censi. Mixed by Giuseppe Emmanuele. Assistant: Paolo Benzoni. Executive and artistical producer: Fabrizio Perissinotto. Photographies: Alessandro Pecci. Cover by Mauro Carbonara MCArtworks. Booklet by Federico Cavina A&Bcrea.
Tracklist: 1. Breaking News (2:07) 2. Albert Meets Nels (4:12) 3. Louisiana Rain (:31) 4. Plick Plick (1:24) 5. The Kid (5:04) 6. Run Through The Jungle (6:27) 7. Bumper To Bumper (1:11) 8. Brain Washed (8:10) 9. Ruth’s Tale (3:30)
Breaking News is a project led by Italian guitarist Simone Massaron playing with a superb band: Daniele Cavallanti and Tiziano Tononi (from the critically acclaimed Italian Instabile Orchestra and Nexus), Steve Piccolo (Lounge Lizards) and the great New York guitarist Elliott Sharp. It’s raw and bluesy stuff, with jazz and improvised moments held together mainly by the saxophone and some experimental and free movements. There’s also a furious version of Creedence Clearwater Revival’s “Run Through The Jungle” featuring some exciting electric lap steel work by Elliott Sharp.
Simone Massaron – Daniele Cavallanti – Steve Piccolo – Elliot Sharp – Tiziano Tononi
News flash (to some):
Free-minded electric jazz and fusion arc alive and surprisingly well in Europe, shown by these two guitar-heavy releases that straddle both genres and mix it up with other strains. Guitarist Simone Massaron’s Breaking News is all over the map, from the wide-open guitar experimentation of the title track, with the leader and Elliott Sharp alone together, to the stripper-beat blues of “The Kid,” with Massaron’s electric lap steel sparring with tenor saxophonist Daniele Cavallanti and drummer Tiziano Tononi. John Fogerty’s “Run Through The Jungle,” with the above-mentioned players plus Steve Piccolo on bass and vocals, is Creedence Clearwater Revival gone edgy, while the fluttering, flickering ‘Bumper To Bumper,” a duet for Massaron and Sharp, might be cosidered “math jazz.” “Ruth’s Tale,” fronted by Cavallanti’s warm tenor, caps the CD with haunting balladry. —Down Beat
Now here’s an interesting album
mixing two genres which are impossible to combine and which are each other’s opposite : avant-garde and blues. The cook which gives us this brew is Italian guitarist Simone Massaron, assisted by a line-up of top musicians : Elliott Sharp on electric guitar, Daniele Cavallanti on tenor sax, Steve Piccolo on bass, and the great Tiziano Tononi on drums. Blending or mixing genres are maybe the wrong words, because it’s rather alternation : a more avant piece is followed by a traditional blues, then we get another avant piece, then some blues, then a CCR cover, vocals included, then back to some experimental guitarwork, etc. The technical skills are excellent, and it’s great to hear some heavy blues-soloing which sounds more like Johnny Winter than jazz. On the other hand, the skronk avant-garde guitar pieces in between are probably not of the type to please the blues fan. Some pieces are nice enough, although it’s not always clear where it’s going too. Musicianship is great, though. — Stef
The music by the group led by Massaron
is a tasteful interlacement of experimental sounds (whose game is often led by him and Sharp) and free, singable melodic associations from which the shadow of Albert Ayler emerges. Even more so, when the group plays “Run Through The Jungle”, an old song by Creedence Clearwater Revival that has a completely different expression. Nevertheless, the originality of all the performers gives the group an undoubted style consistency. — Corriere della Sera
Daniele Cavallanti | Photo by Dario Villa
Very bold indeed “Breaking News”
the album by Simone Massaron, who plays any kind of electric guitar, variously modified, together with the Nexus duo, (Daniele Cavallanti and Tiziano Tononi) and two avant-gardist pillars, Steve Piccolo and Elliott Sharp. The result is a contagious free jazz, with an eye for no wave and alt rock. It makes one think of those enlightening experiences by certain NY schools of the past twenty years (the Knitting Factory, for example) all of which reaching courageous results, even if sometimes not very enjoyable by traditional taste. Moreover, we are carried to believe that thanks to albums such as this one, the “Made in Italy” has conquered a leading position in the international jazz scene. — Il Buscadero
Steve Piccolo | Photo by Guido Lotti
Italy’s Long Song label
boasts an internationally robust roster of musicians, several of which appear on these two fine releases. Both discs boast fine improvisation and bring new contexts to the idea of composition. Massaron’s offering (1) is obviously indebted to the New York school of 1960s free Jazz, as the first two tracks demonstrate. Any pulse is almost immediately abandoned in favor of a very convinc- ing homage to Ayler or late Trane, saxophonist Cavallanti sounding particularly fresh and vibrant here. Beyond such allusions, the group handles prescribed forms with grace and finesse, such as the scintillatingly sluggish and bluesy “Louisiana Rain,” which sports Massaron and Sharp’s heated guitar interplay. On the other end of the spectrum is the nostalgic “Ruth’s Tail,” with just Massaron and Cavallanti to carry the tune’s first part along. — Cadence
Excellent
debut album for a top level guitarist. (breaking news) is favoured by a grown up production and performers such as Steve Piccolo, Elliott Sharp, Tiziano Tononi and Daniele Cavallanti. Play it loud, and you will enjoy a passionate trip through rock, blues and jazz. — caru.com
CD version (incl. shipment cost world-wide)
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