Vinyl LP pressing. In every artistic field it is hard to understand how critically important first impressions are. I am talking about those quick and uncontrollable connections, like an electric shock, that originate from the direct proportion between the work of art standing before US (a picture, a poem, a piece of music) and our feelings. The critical judgement as such requires a deep meditation and the artistic work in question should be examined probably in the microscopic detail of the cultural tradition, filtered through the aesthetical parameters and controlled as a sort of X-ray, giving a careful analysis of every overtone and undertone, spontaneity and trick. So I think it is right to say my first impression on listening to this record was skin-deep, on which the more meditative critics no doubt would respond correctly.

Oscar Valdambrini (b. 1924, Turin) was first noticed as a valued trumpeter in the early 1950s. + In 1955 he created an Italian sextet; from 1956 onwards he was involved in various quintets with Gianni Basso, as well as making important contribution to Armando Trovajoli’s big band in 1957-’58; he was also involved with the most famous jazz names (Chet Baker, Gerry Mulligan, Zoot Sims, Lionel Hampton, Duke Ellington, Maynard Ferguson, Kenny Clark, etc…) and participated in countless festivals and concerts. + His amazing career is the envy of those possessing great knowledge in this field.

Vinyl LP pressing of this 1981 release. Gianni Basso represents one of the most solid institutions of Italian Jazz. He has been like this since the beginning, when he appeared in Milan after some years abroad. At that time, he already had a long story behind him as an activist jazz musician: he started playing during his childhood in his hometown of Asti (where he was born in 1931) and then in Belgium, where his father emigrated with his family to work in the mines.

A live recording featuring several of the most important members of the Clarke-Boland Big Band, here performing as a sextet. The group, a mix of stellar European and ex-patriot American jazz musicians, lean into Latin rhythms on cuts including 'Con Alma, Serenata and Insensatez, among others. Recorded at the old Rolandseck railway station in Germany on September 25th, 1965, during a party honoring the great French mime Marcel Marceau.

Vinyl LP pressing. Digitally remastered edition of this album from the Italian Jazz pianist. Eight tracks. Rearward.

Double vinyl LP pressing. 2009 release from the Jazz bassist, a tribute to the late, great Charles Mingus. The musicians involved in this album are Javier Girotto, Max Ionata, Daniele Tittarelli, Pietro Lussu and Walter Paoli. Rearward.

Helen Merrill (b. 1930, NYC) debuted in a big way in 1954, recording her first LP with jazz heavyweights Clifford Brown and Oscar Pettiford, among others. By 1960, she’d relocated to Italy, where she recorded ‘Parole e Musica with two groups of Italian jazz musicians (pianist Piero Umiliani is common to both groups). Spoken Italian dialog precedes each number, mostly standards. The album remains one of the finest to grace her catalog that includes six decades worth of recordings.

CUCIAL MOMENT

Oscar Valdambrini (b. 1924, Turin) was first noticed as a valued trumpeter in the early 1950s. + In 1955 he created an Italian sextet; from 1956 onwards he was involved in various quintets with Gianni Basso, as well as making important contribution to Armando Trovajoli’s big band in 1957-’58; he was also involved with the most famous jazz names (Chet Baker, Gerry Mulligan, Zoot Sims, Lionel Hampton, Duke Ellington, Maynard Ferguson, Kenny Clark, etc…) and participated in countless festivals and concerts. + His amazing career is the envy of those possessing great knowledge in this field.

The Italian pianist and composer Piero Umiliani (1926-2001) began his film scoring work in the 1950’s, working with The Taviani Brothers and Mario Monicelli (1958’s “Big Deal on Madonna Street”), among others. After hearing this 1957 LP, Monichelli invited Umiliani to score his great 1958 film. Of Da Roma a New York, Umiliani noted, “In (arranging my tunes) I tried to express myself in a contemporary yet classic manner, without pretense, focusing on a good sound and effective rhythm.”

A fairly rare discographic item, pianist Francy Boland is here captured in a small-group setting featuring Jimmy Woode on bass and the legendary Kenny Clarke on drums. The trio guide US through versions of familiar Clarke-Boland numbers that have been pared back to reveal the absolute musical essentials. This session is a perfectly cut gem; unassuming but wholly flawless, and shining with intelligent musical light.

The “Quartetto di Lucca” were originally a group of young players formerly a part of the amateur “Hot Clubs” of many years ago. The band was born as a quintet at the end of 1957, debuting in 1958 in Rome. A few months later, they recorded their first album as a quintet for RCA Italy. The band played for six months in the USA, listening to American musicians in their own environment. Once back in Italy, they also had the opportunity of accompanying Chet Baker for several months.

The enchanting atmospheres, the daydreams, the sketches and the caricatures of some other legendary film scenes. This and much more will live in one of the most anticipated records of the year: “Enchantment, the spell of Nino Rota”, the Tribute to Nino Rota, gentle and sweet man, always smiling, as brilliant in writing music as much as modest in all other aspects of life, that Fabrizio Bosso pays to him with the extraordinary participation of the London Symphony Orchestra, on arrangements and direction of Maestro Stefano Fonzi. A hundred years after Nino Rota’s birth, which took place in Milan on December 3rd 1911, the disc, recorded on previous June 21st and 22nd in the Air Studios of London, is the revaluation, once again, of the international importance of Rota’s art. During his career he composed more than 150 scores including operas, ballets, chamber music, sacred music and soundtracks; he worked with many of the greatest directors of contemporary cinema: from Federico Fellini (for whom he wrote all of his soundtracks, from “Lo Sceicco Bianco” to “Amarcord”), to Luchino Visconti (“Rocco e i Suoi Fratelli”, “Il Gattopardo”), from Mario Monicelli (“La grande Guerra”) to King Vidor (“War And Peace”), from Eduardo De Filippo (“Napoli Milionaria”, “Filumena Marturano”), to Francis Ford Coppola (“The Godfather”, Part I and II). Just some of these themes, in particular those by “The Godfather”, ”La Strada”, “La Dolce Vita”, “Romeo and Juliet”, “Il Gattopardo”, “Otto e Mezzo” and “Amarcord”, combined with a very rare piece given by CAM/SUGAR, “Ragazzo di Borgata”, and with Enchantment, composed by Stefano Fonzi, reproduce the incredible vision of Rota but also the simplicity of the man who hide behind the character. The album is conceived as a single continuous musical work, in order to tell Nino Rota - candid and honest man as much as a unique artist – through his notes. A man who, as Federico Fellini said “tried to get out of doors that didn’t exist, while he could came out from a window, like a butterfly, as he was surrounded by a magical, unreal atmosphere. A person with incredible goodness, with a rare politeness and a marvellous musical talent.

Digitally remastered edition of this 1963 album from the Italian Jazz saxophonist. A Point of View is one of the releases that best summarizes the work and the thinking of Volont�. The album was an important step for the Jazz scene in Italy and influenced the experimentation and development of the genre in that country. Rearward.

Founded by trumpetist Fabrizio Bosso and saxophonist Javier Girotto, Latin Mood features a bunch of great artists. Tango, milonga, chacarera, candombe, everything springs and sparkles under the jazz banner. Born for the 2006 edition of Brianza Open Jazz Festival, the quintet has two leaders: on one side Turin native Fabrizio Bosso, on the other argentinian Javier Girotto, italian by adoption. Bosso’s hard bop meets Girotto’s latin world on the fruitful soil of improvisation. Original tracks by Javier Girotto, Natalio Mangalavite – he couldn’t be anywhere else but here – and Fabrizio Bosso. At electric bass we have Luca Bulgarelli; Tucci’s drums and Marcozzi’s percussions complete the ensemble. Latin jazz has been influencing jazz and other music genres since years. Just remind the ‘Spanish Tinge’ by Jelly Roll Morton or Tito Puente’s orchestras or Stan Getz’s great commercial success with bossanova. Boppers also, from Charlie Parker and Bud Powell – with his classic ‘Un Poco Loco’ – to other great musicians (like Mingus, Dorham, Joe Henderson, just to name a few) approached with love, curiosity and respect latin world and its themes.