ENRICO PIERANUNZI & THOMAS FONNESBÆK - Blue Waltz (Live at Gustav's)
Stunt Records: STUCD18012
Enrico Pieranunzi (piano) Thomas Fonnesbæk (bass)
Recorded live at Gustav’s Bistro, Copenhagen July 14th and 15th
This is a classy live recording in which the celebrated Italian pianist Pieranunzi finds himself in a fertile pairing with the eminent Danish bassist, Fonnesbæk. The diners at Gustav’s Bistro must have been hard pressed to concentrate on their food when these two came onto the bandstand because the music they produce is of such a high quality that all other considerations must have seemed an irritating diversion. In no way can the duo’s set be categorised as dinner jazz such is the level of technique and expression displayed
Opening with a Cole Porter standard the playlist proceeds through a series of arrestingly memorable Pieranunzi originals with a variation on Coltrane’s `Impressions` by Fonnesbæk and a further standard from the pen of Jerome Kern. All the characteristics of Pieranunzi’s cultured cosmopolitan style are in evidence which combines wistful Italianate romanticism with classical processes and an abundance of seamless jazz invention. In Fonnesbæk he has a truly flexible friend capable of sustaining and commenting on each piece as it unfolds through its various moods and rhythmic variations, maintaining a warm pungent pulse and fleet lines of enquiry in his solo spaces.
The Pieranunzi discography is by now almost overwhelming large and even his dedicated followers might question whether they need to add another disc to their collection but this latest issue equates with his best work and will not disappoint those who have followed his remarkable career so far, from his early days as an accompanist to Chet Baker to his emergence as a musician of international repute, whilst anyone coming new to his music is in for real treat.
Reviewed by Euan Dixon
Stunt Records: STUCD18012
Enrico Pieranunzi (piano) Thomas Fonnesbæk (bass)
Recorded live at Gustav’s Bistro, Copenhagen July 14th and 15th
This is a classy live recording in which the celebrated Italian pianist Pieranunzi finds himself in a fertile pairing with the eminent Danish bassist, Fonnesbæk. The diners at Gustav’s Bistro must have been hard pressed to concentrate on their food when these two came onto the bandstand because the music they produce is of such a high quality that all other considerations must have seemed an irritating diversion. In no way can the duo’s set be categorised as dinner jazz such is the level of technique and expression displayed
Opening with a Cole Porter standard the playlist proceeds through a series of arrestingly memorable Pieranunzi originals with a variation on Coltrane’s `Impressions` by Fonnesbæk and a further standard from the pen of Jerome Kern. All the characteristics of Pieranunzi’s cultured cosmopolitan style are in evidence which combines wistful Italianate romanticism with classical processes and an abundance of seamless jazz invention. In Fonnesbæk he has a truly flexible friend capable of sustaining and commenting on each piece as it unfolds through its various moods and rhythmic variations, maintaining a warm pungent pulse and fleet lines of enquiry in his solo spaces.
The Pieranunzi discography is by now almost overwhelming large and even his dedicated followers might question whether they need to add another disc to their collection but this latest issue equates with his best work and will not disappoint those who have followed his remarkable career so far, from his early days as an accompanist to Chet Baker to his emergence as a musician of international repute, whilst anyone coming new to his music is in for real treat.
Reviewed by Euan Dixon
