Daniele Cavallanti – tenor and baritone saxophone | Tiziano Tononi – drums, percussion, udu drum, kalimba | Jenny Scheinmann – violin | Pacho – percussion, gongs, conga drums | Achille Succi – bass clarinet, alto saxophone | Emanuele Parrini – viola | Massimo Mariani – electric guitar | Giovanni Maier – double bass, electric bass
Recorded at Nicolosi Studios, Milano, february the 15th, 16th and 17th 2008. Sound engineer: Lorenzo Monti. Mixed by Daniele Cavallanti, Tizioano Tononi, Maurizio Giannotti and Fabrizio Perissinotto at New Mastering Studio, Milano. Mastered by Maurizio Giannotti at New Mastering Studio, Milano. Artwork and fire pictures by Elena Raffa, all other pictures by Alessandro Pecci.
Tracklist: Faces 1. Shadows 2. Cassavetes 3. Bertolucci 4. Jarmusch 5. Wenders 6. Eastwood Phases 7. The Winter Moon Unit (ionisated Version) 8. Unauthorized Fives 9. Motionary Tales 10. Before The Storm 11. Landscape #1: Where? 12. The Magnetism of Reiteration 13. Landscape #2: How? 14. Organically Returning Fives
Italian tenor saxophonist Daniele Cavallanti
and drummer Tizian Tononi, created a new project, composing two suites “Faces & Phases”, to be played by some of the best Italian musicians, and with Jenny Scheinman on violin as the guest star. The “Faces”part, composed by Cavallanti, focuses on modern movie directors, including “Cassavetes”, “Bertolucci”, “Jarmush”, “Wenders” and “Eastwood”, the “Phases” part, composed by Tononi, are more inspired by nature. The Italian musicians include Giovanni Maier on bass, Massimo Moriani on electric guitar, Pacho on percussion, Emanuele Parrini on viola, and Achille Succi on bass clarinet and alto saxophone. The music brings a strange mix of modern jazz, fusion, rock, folk music, world music, avant-garde and free moments. The original idea was also to use the infinite possibilities of interaction between the two horns, the two strings and the guitar, together with the clear objective to create “lyrical tension, drama, power but at the same time always under control”. And I must say, that they managed to make this programmatic approach come true. Not only are the musicians excellent, but so is the music.
“Faces” is melodic, starting in an avant-garde fashion, moving on into “Cassavetes”, possibly the most jazzy piece of all, eery and agonizing. “Jarmush” is uptempo, a little more funky and fusion, whereas “Wenders” has a propulsive rock drive with heavily distorted guitar solo, yet “Eastwood” is the best piece, a great mid-tempo workout with excellent solos from Cavallanti and Scheinman.
“Phases”, also starts very avant-garde, with eery and screeching sounds like seagulls crying overhead, accompanied by singing whales, with the guitar and drums intervening with some some more industrial sounds. “Motionary Tales” has more drama, with strong unison theme, evolving into a lighter tune with a steady beat, over which the soloists do their thing, although all accompaniment slowly ebbs away before the viola give as a gripping solo. “Before The Storm”, the second long track, is much slower, with a great wild part in the middle, where all the solo instruments have a kind of battle for share of voice, only to rejoin a theme for a march-like tune. But I like “Landschape # 2″ the best, with a combination of a folk tune with world music influences, a great bass clarinet solo over great percussive work by Pacho and a beautiful viloa solo by Parrini. Variation enough, actually the tunes changes every few minutes, even the longest ones, yet despite that, the whole is pretty coherent. For some listeners there might be a little too much stylistic variation, though. — Stef
Tenor/baritone/composer Daniele Cavallanti
and drummer/percussionist/composer Tiziano Tononi, from Milano, Italy, have been playing together for the last thirty years. Since 1980 have been co-leading the band Nexus. Considered an historical avant-garde Italian band, Nexus has been voted a number of times best band by critics in the annual jazz magazine Musica Jazz “Top Jazz Referendum”. They are also founding members of the celebrated Italian Instabile Orchestra. Both with Nexus and the Italian Instabile Orchestra, Cavallanti and Tononi performed all over Europe, United States, Canada and Japan and during their career they have been playing and recording with some of the most representative Italian jazz musicians such as: Enrico Rava, Gianluigi Trovesi, Giancarlo Schiaffini, Giorgio Gaslini and with a number of international jazz masters such as: Raphael Garrett, Radu Malfatti, Barre Phillips, Oliver Lake, Leroy Jenkins, Glenn Ferris, Mark Dresser, Herb Robertson, Steve Lacy, Dave Liebman, Stuart Copeland, Andrew Cyrille, Maggie Nicols, Dewey Redman, Muhal Richard Abrahms, Cecil Taylor, Anthony Braxton, Roswell Rudd, Nels Cline, Elliott Sharp, William Parker, Hamid Drake, Willem Breuker, Wolter Wierbos, Jerry Granelli, Evan Parker, Paul Lytton, Jean-Jacques Avenel, Oliver Johnson, Michel Godard.
On this brand new CD, produced by Fabrizio Perissinotto, who originally conceived and commissioned the project to the two musicians, Cavallanti and Tononi present two long and ambitious suites (“Faces” by Daniele Cavallanti and “Phases” by Tiziano Tononi) for an extraordinary high level octet that features American violin rising star Jenny Scheinman, Emanuele Parrini on viola, Achille Succi on alto saxophone and bass clarinet, Massimo Mariani on guitar, Giovanni Maier on double and electric bass and Pacho on percussion. Featuring Jenny Scheinman & Emmanuele Parrini on strings, Danielle Cavallanti on tenor & bari saxes & Achille Succi on bass clarinet & alto sax, Massimo Mariani on electric guitar, Giovanni Maier on double & electric bass, Pacho on percussion, gongs & congas and Tiziano Tononi on drums & percussion. Both saxist Daniele Cavallanti and drummer, Tiziano Tononi have worked together in different projects for quite a while and can be heard on discs on Splasch and Black Saint. This amazing disc came in in November and I’ve played more than a dozen times since it is just incredible and it is 80 minutes long!
‘Rings of Fire’ is broken into two suites, “Faces” by Cavallanti and “Phases” by Tononi. Each section of ‘Faces’ is named after a film director, “Cassavetes”, “Bertolucci”, “Jarmusch,” “Wenders” and “Eastwood”. Right from the opening splash of sound, we know we are in for something special. Like the best film directors, we can feel often explosive dramatic tension, the balance of beauty and fear, intensity and subtly. This music is quite cinematic without the visual stimulation necessary. I love the spooky percussion and dynamic composing/playing on “Cassavetes”. This extraordinary ensemble in an octet with two saxes, two strings, two percussionists, el. guitar and bass. Hence, this is a sort of double band in which the same instruments often shadow or accentuate one another. The two turbulent saxes on this piece swirl around another magnificently as do the percussionists and strings. “Bertolucci” has one of those sly, spy movie themes with sublime harmonies for the strings and saxes. Each piece features both inspired solos and challenging writing. Achille’s probing alto sax rides high above the swell strings on “Wenders” with an effective and unexpected noise guitar solo tossed in, that just keeps getting better as both drummers swirl powerfully around him. Giovanni Maier’s hypnotic electric bass stands out on “Eastwood” , as do the mesmerizing arrangements for the entire octet, with a perfect Trane-like solo from Cavallanti.
‘Phases’ is the second suite and it is in three parts. It is beautifully composed and played with strong solos from all. I love the churning harmonies for the saxes and strings on “”Before the Storm”. When the bass and drums lay out, we find a strong communal spirit for the strings and saxes only together. There are a series of trios and duos on the this piece, all of which are splendid, focused and always inspired. There are way too many great solos, inspired ensemble writing and playing throughout this entire epic-length disc to note here. Each time I listen to this gem, I hear so much more. 80 minutes is the most one can fit on an entire disc and considering that this disc is wonderful from the beginning to the end makes it even better. Bravo, bravo!” — Downtown Music Gallery
CD version (incl. shipment cost world-wide)
Poet Robert Browning may not have written the line, “a man’s reach should exceed his grasp” with musicians Daniele Cavallanti and Tiziano Tononi in mind. But if he were to listen to some of their music, he might just have added, “and sometimes, they get a hold of something special out there.”
Rings Of Fire, a two-part suite, follows the duo’s longtime collaborative efforts, which include time in the Italian Instabile Orchestra and on the discs Awake Nu / A Tribute to Don Cherry (Splasc(h), 1997), We Did It, We Did It! (Rahsaan & the None) (Splasc(h), 2000) and Peace Warriors (Black Saint, 2005). They are all sprawling, multidimensional works that reflect the artists dedication to create something larger (much larger) than themselves.
This work was commissioned by Long Song’s Fabrizio Perissinotto and is comprised of two suites—”Faces,” written by Cavallanti, and “Phases” by Tononi. Each utilizes an octet (or double quartet) of two-horns and two-strings. In this case American violinist Jenny Scheinman and Emanuele Parrini’s viola, plus Cavallanti and Achille Succi on reeds. The group is rounded out by Tononi’s drums and percussionist Pacho, plus the extraordinary electric guitar work of Massimo Moriani and bassist Giovanni Maier.
“Faces,” is dedicated to film directors and is as varying as each name suggests—”Cassavetes,” “Bertolucci,” “Jarmusch,” “Wenders” and “Eastwood.” Cavallanti loves to mix chamber music with rock influences, the blues, and a bit of Americana (for the westerns). Scheinman is instantly recognizable, playing with strength and confidence, sharing the string parts with viola and electric guitar. When she squares off with Cavallanti on “Eastwood,” the juxtaposition of his large tone and her snap at the strings makes for a smoky groove.
Tiziano Tononi’s “Phases” suite was written for nature and natural occurrences. From the thunderous opening, the octet plays an ethnic/folk music with “Motionary Tales” that injects a jazz element. Like Cavallanti, Tononi is inspired to separate the horns from the strings and make each advance towards each other from their disparate sides. By the time the band gets to the fury of the last track, they have built a complex orchestrated tempest of sound that threatens to split open, but somehow maintains its lofty ambitions.
Per un amante del Miles Davis più sperimentale e free (ma mettiamoci dentro anche l’Ornette Coleman più innovativo) parlare di “Rings of Fire” è come incontrare un vecchio amico, la stessa familiarità di un rapporto che non ha bisogno di convenevoli, ma che si nutre di abbracci, sorrisi e buone chiacchiere. Non sfugge a questa considerazione la nuova collaborazione tra il sassofonista Daniele Cavallanti e il percussionista Tiziano Tononi, due nomi bene conosciuti nel circuito jazz italiano. Un incontro artistico coraggioso e stimolante che, ancora una volta, ma non ce n’era bisogno, colloca la Long Song come una delle più importanti in Italia tra le etichette attente ai nuovi fermenti del jazz elettrico e della musica di avanguardia.
Un coraggio che non smetteremo mai di elogiare per la passione e la qualità delle produzioni Anche per “Rings Of Fire’ non si tratta di un disco di immediata assimilazione, perlomeno per chi non bazzica abitualmente le strade tortuose ma soddisfacenti di cui abbiamo parlato in precedenza. Un disco diviso in due parti: una prima dedicata sembra a suggestioni cinematografiche, trattandosi di sei “Faces”, che hanno quasi tutte come titoli i nomi di registi (“Cassavetes” e “Jannush” le più riuscite), la seconda una lunga suite in tre elementi che va ascoltata, perché descriverla sarebbe riduttivo, tanta la quantità di cambi di tempo, idee, fraseggi, stili che la compongono. E’ proprio questo il modo per amare un disco come “Rings Of Fire”, perdersi tra le sue note.
Rings of Fire dimostra ammirevolmente come la concezione ritmica del duo Nexus si espanda e diventi luogo stimolante per avventure improvvisative. Due suite lo riempiono, ricche e organiche. I sei movimenti fortemente caratterizzati di Faces(Cavalianti) dichiarano l’ispirazione nei titoli: Shadows, Cassavetes, Bertolucci, Jarmush, Wenders e Eastwood. La seconda suite appare più complessa e fratturata ma attraverso gli otto movimenti dai titoli non altrettanto inequivocabili, raggruppati in tre Phases, Tononi fa scorrere un fluido ritmico unificante, cui lascia la possibilità di inabissarsi carsicamente. I violini conferiscono alle due suite un colore e un profilo dinamico determinanti: merito di una scrittura che ne fa sorgere le voci dal tessuto sottostante come una necessità.