Nicola Guazzaloca | Tecniche Arcaiche | Amirani Records

Don’t miss Nicola’s assertive solo work !A remarkable balance between impetus and delicacy, a consistent mélange of authority and audacity, lyrical flights and meaty smashes that give both the experienced listener and the newcomer a great recording! First solo album by Nicola Guazzaloca delivers us a fully blossomed pianist. A genuine work of constant inventiveness where simple light figures and deeply textured sketches are driven by the impetus of the instant self-composing material and by a complete investigation of the piano, never losing the narrative control and the force of a fresh suggestion. Continue reading

The Shoreditch Trio | Again | Amirani Records

When I think about what I look for in a musician it is that they add something to music. That they have their own musicality. The musician also has to have a generosity of spirit. Freely bringing their complete range of skills to the playing situation and serving a musical imperative rather than following or hiding behind an agenda. They must also have what I call the edge. This is creating in real time. There are many musicians who can play Charlie Parker solos note for note but the edge is missing as they are not, nor ever could be, Charlie Parker. Non of us can be someone else. To have the edge is not to trot out a series of well rehearsed licks but to be there, in the moment, playing the music in the way only you can. I have had the good fortune to have played with three musicians on this CD and they pass all my criteria to the full. Generous with ideas, open minded and spirited, and with a genuine musical curiosity. As a group I heard them in October 2009 at Shoreditch Church in London and thought at the time ‘this group has legs’ meaning that it could continue growing and developing its music for a long time if the chance was there. I’m delighted it wasn’t a one off concert and that the group has indeed grown into the fine one you can here on this CD, where each musician is intimately aware of the space occupied by the others and the aim is quite simply to play good music. — John Russell Continue reading

Hannah Marshall | Nicola Guazzaloca | Gianni Mimmo | Leila Adu | The Shoreditch Concert | Amirani Records

The Shoreditch Church concert and recording represents one of the best performances I have assisted in the past 2009. Four different and strong personalities, extremely talented, have played in an unusual place [an old church in the busy Shoreditch central London area] that for the characteristic of its own acoustic has engaged the quartet in a highly demanding level of concentration, and resulting in an extraordinary performance”. Excerpt from the liner note by composer Dario Palermo Continue reading