ALICE RICCIARDI / PIETRO LUSSU - Catch A Falling Star
Gibigiana Records GBG01CD
Alice Ricciardi (vocals); Pietro Lussu (piano, Fender Rhodes)
Italian singer, Alice Ricciardi divides her time between Rome and the Big Apple, and while I confess is a new name to me she has a solid resumé and small but impressive discography under her belt. She began her musical journey at the age of seven playing piano and violin, and in 1988 she began studying jazz vocals at Accademia Internazionale della Musica in her home town of Milan. She has also studied with US pianist, Ran Blake, and in 2005 came second in the International Montreux Jazz Festival Voice Competition.
This is her third recording under her own name, with each being completely different and featuring Ricciardi in a contrasting lineups. Her debut album for Blue Note Records (2008), Comes Love, is the most straight ahead jazz record of the three in terms of instrumentation and song choice with delightful versions of 'If I Should Lose You' and 'I'll Remember April'. The follow up some six years later, Optics, was recorded for on Greg Osby's Inner Circle Music and has a much more contemporary outlook in terms of material and arrangements, and also introduces pianist Pietro Lussu in the singers orbit.
With Catch A Falling Star, Ricciardi again looks to mix things up and strips things right back to basics with a duet recording with Lussu that very successfully eschews the predictable offering fresh takes on some well known standards as well as showcasing her own compositions. From the opening bars of 'Let's Face The Music And Dance' it is apparent that nothing is going to be quite as it seems, with the duo playing musical tricks on our expectations. This is done in such a clever way that there is nothing that detracts from the composer's intentions but just a different way of interpreting them that ensure the the material is presented in an engaging manner that brings fresh life to the material.
Ricciardi and Lussu have a real affinity when playing together. The pianist is able to shadow the vocal line wherever it may go, and does so with a broad and full accompaniment that lifts the singer. Good use is also made of the distinctive sound of the Fender Rhodes, with the electric keyboard adding variety to the sound and voicings of the performances. This works especially well on Rodgers and Hammerstein's 'Boys And Girls Like You And Me' and the Van Heusen/Burke composition 'Sunday, Monday Or Always'. While on the subject of standards, it must also be mentioned that Ricciardi and Lussu also deliver fine readings of 'What Is This Called Love' and 'I Let A Song Go Out Of My Heart', with Lussu back on acoustic piano.
The pair also demonstrate their own song writing collaboration with a couple of fine originals in the exquisite 'Clues Blues' and 'To One I Love' featuring a poem from the Chin Dynasty; and are also happy to throw in a left field choice in 'Utah', composed by Steve Lacy with text by Giulia Niccolai that further demonstrates the diversity of these intrepid musicians, and the way in which they are able to work each of the pieces into their own musical vision. Not your usual run of the mill album, and highly recommended.
Reviewed by Nick Lea
Gibigiana Records GBG01CD
Alice Ricciardi (vocals); Pietro Lussu (piano, Fender Rhodes)
Italian singer, Alice Ricciardi divides her time between Rome and the Big Apple, and while I confess is a new name to me she has a solid resumé and small but impressive discography under her belt. She began her musical journey at the age of seven playing piano and violin, and in 1988 she began studying jazz vocals at Accademia Internazionale della Musica in her home town of Milan. She has also studied with US pianist, Ran Blake, and in 2005 came second in the International Montreux Jazz Festival Voice Competition.
This is her third recording under her own name, with each being completely different and featuring Ricciardi in a contrasting lineups. Her debut album for Blue Note Records (2008), Comes Love, is the most straight ahead jazz record of the three in terms of instrumentation and song choice with delightful versions of 'If I Should Lose You' and 'I'll Remember April'. The follow up some six years later, Optics, was recorded for on Greg Osby's Inner Circle Music and has a much more contemporary outlook in terms of material and arrangements, and also introduces pianist Pietro Lussu in the singers orbit.
With Catch A Falling Star, Ricciardi again looks to mix things up and strips things right back to basics with a duet recording with Lussu that very successfully eschews the predictable offering fresh takes on some well known standards as well as showcasing her own compositions. From the opening bars of 'Let's Face The Music And Dance' it is apparent that nothing is going to be quite as it seems, with the duo playing musical tricks on our expectations. This is done in such a clever way that there is nothing that detracts from the composer's intentions but just a different way of interpreting them that ensure the the material is presented in an engaging manner that brings fresh life to the material.
Ricciardi and Lussu have a real affinity when playing together. The pianist is able to shadow the vocal line wherever it may go, and does so with a broad and full accompaniment that lifts the singer. Good use is also made of the distinctive sound of the Fender Rhodes, with the electric keyboard adding variety to the sound and voicings of the performances. This works especially well on Rodgers and Hammerstein's 'Boys And Girls Like You And Me' and the Van Heusen/Burke composition 'Sunday, Monday Or Always'. While on the subject of standards, it must also be mentioned that Ricciardi and Lussu also deliver fine readings of 'What Is This Called Love' and 'I Let A Song Go Out Of My Heart', with Lussu back on acoustic piano.
The pair also demonstrate their own song writing collaboration with a couple of fine originals in the exquisite 'Clues Blues' and 'To One I Love' featuring a poem from the Chin Dynasty; and are also happy to throw in a left field choice in 'Utah', composed by Steve Lacy with text by Giulia Niccolai that further demonstrates the diversity of these intrepid musicians, and the way in which they are able to work each of the pieces into their own musical vision. Not your usual run of the mill album, and highly recommended.
Reviewed by Nick Lea
