Showing posts with label Michele Calgaro. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Michele Calgaro. Show all posts

Monday, June 26, 2023

Michele Calgaro - Progressions

Styles: Guitar Jazz
Year: 2011
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 49:23
Size: 113,2 MB
Art: Front

(0:40) 1. Natural Bop Killers
(5:45) 2. Basso Fondo
(5:44) 3. Progression
(7:36) 4. Il Valore Delle Differenze
(7:39) 5. In Pursuit Of The 27th Man
(2:35) 6. Intro Monadi
(8:02) 7. Monadi
(6:59) 8. Mari Land
(4:20) 9. Love Is This Thing Called "What?"

Appreciated teacher he has directed the Thelonious music school in Vicenza since 1991 Michele Calgaro is here in his second round as sole leader, four years after «Round about Monk», also published by our label. In truth, some time before he had shared the authorship of another album with Canadian saxophonist Robert Bonisolo, "The Edge", recorded in quartet with the addition of some songs by Paolo Fresu.

Bonisolo, with whom Calgaro has been playing regularly for almost twenty years, is also present in this «Progressions», an album enriched by the presence of a prestigious guest, Alex Sipiagin, a Russian trumpeter who has moved permanently to the United States since 1992 , soon becoming one of the absolute protagonists of the New York jazz scene.

The quintet from Calgaro, completed by another of its tried and tested partners, the precious drummer Mauro Beggio, instead sees Michele's brother, Lorenzo, and the American Marc Abrams split in the role of double bass player who, like and even more than Bonisolo, can now be considered Italian in all respects. Unlike the previous recording, entirely dedicated to Thelonious Monk, here Michele Calgaro also tests himself as a composer, demonstrating that he has now acquired a decidedly personal style, which knows how to be poetic and reflective (in the sweet ballad Monadi, signed by Lorenzo , as well as in Mari Land, which starts with the trio alone and then sees the addition of Bonisolo's sax and Sipiagin's flugelhorn), but when necessary also rightly stringent and aggressive (in the modal Progression and in the pressing gait of Love is this thing called “What?”).

It is no coincidence that the only standard present on the album arranged in a very original way is a piece by the "master" Horace Silver, the compelling and too little performed In pursuit of the 27th man. But Calgaro's quintet can also be convincing in the two compositions in medium tempo, which are moreover articulated and complex, such as the hypnotic melody of Basso Fondo and the suspended scale of Il Valore delle Difference, capable of paying due tribute to Wayne Shorter without this lose in originality. credits released April 24, 2021 Translate by Google

Personnel: Alex Sipiagin (trumpet, flugelhorn), Robert Bonisolo (tenor sax), Michele Calgaro (guitars), Lorenzo Calgaro (double bass on 1–2–6–7–9), Marc Abrams (double bass on 3–4–5–8), Mauro Beggio (drums).

Progressions

Friday, June 16, 2023

Michele Calgaro - Full Score

Styles: Guitar Jazz
Year: 2019
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 63:59
Size: 146,9 MB
Art: Front

(5:25) 1. Short Wave
(5:21) 2. Blizzard
(6:56) 3. Letter To Evans
(5:15) 4. Full Score
(8:51) 5. Souvenirs
(9:42) 6. Live Score
(8:39) 7. Steppin' Zone
(5:45) 8. One For Hall
(6:07) 9. Querida
(1:53) 10. Arise

Michele Calgaro is very active both in teaching and performing, but a little less in recording, especially as a leader. But when he releases a new album, he always does it because he has something new and interesting to say. It took five years to bring back to the studio the quintet that gave us the excellent «Progressions» (2011, Caligola), and we had to wait four more to enjoy the result of this recording session, to which were added other four tunes recorded last year with a different rhythm section, this time a Russian one.

By his side there still are the energetic trumpeter Alex Sipiagin here composer of two songs too and the skilful saxophonist Robert Bonisiolo, both precious and tested adventure companions who, together with Michele, are also the only musicians who appear in all the nine tracks (Arise, the tenth, is a short and delicate guitar solo). «Full Score» is a deep and sincere record, varied and extremely coherent at the same time. If the start with Short Wave is burning to say the least, the atmosphere turns softer and rarefied in Letter to Evans, dedicated to Bill Evans; another successful tribute is paid to Jim Hall with One for Hall.

Michele Calgaro said about his work: “My writing almost always comes from interior aesthetics and stories, conceived for improvisation: a delicate balance, a stimulus for a collective story that also allows the expression of each identity, where the actions of interpretation and impromptu are the true substance of the songs… The luck of being able to walk these paths together with extraordinary musicians, who manage to naturally combine intensity and relaxation, is a priceless value added, and being able to impress some of these moments in a record makes the results of this surprising creative process repeatable and shareable to me…”.https://caligolarecords.bandcamp.com/album/full-score

Personnel: Michele Calgaro (guitars) on all tracks; Alex Sipiagin (trumpet, flugelhorn), Robert Bonisolo (tenor sax) on tracks 1–9; Lorenzo Calgaro (double bass), Mauro Beggio (drums) on tracks 1–5; Makar Novikov (double bass), Sasha Mashin (drums) on tracks 6–9.

Full Score