GIOVANNI FERRI/MIRCO BALLABENE/MIRCO BINDELLI - Strade
Slam Records SLAMCD 574
Giovanni Ferri, – alto saxophone; Mirco Ballabene, – double bass, electronics; Mirco Bindelli, – drums, percussion
Recorded 1, 2, 3 November 2014 at Lunik Studio, Pesaro, Italy
An assorted accumulation of various sounds contrive to lay down ‘melodies’ which it seemed to me were attempting to sound as though there were no differences between them – the structures and tonalities of each were almost repetitive. The overall sound at any one moment came over to me as rather reminiscent of eastern European folk music, fairground music perhaps, or even street music: Strade meaning roads or streets renders this unsurprising perhaps. There is however a degree of development in each track which confirms that we are in the realm of experimentation and that improvisation is the key.
Ferri works with visual arts and theatre milieus, as well as purely musical frameworks and has worked as far afield as Japan. Mirco Ballbene’s roots are firmly set in jazz and improv and include the 2016 Torino jazz festival with Anthony Braxton’s Sonic Genome, Braxton's ‘Magnum Opus’. This work attempts to generate an interactive musical environment in which some 70 musicians play and develop compositions and extemporizations from Braxton’s 40-year-long musical account.
Mirco Bindelli has reconnoitred his way through a wide diversity of inventive jazz methods and genres, since starting as a self-taught musician when he was aged just 14. Paul Motian was one of his tutors. He is credited with two of the tracks on this album (3 and 7) the rest are from Giovanni Ferri.
Reviewed by Ken Cheetham
Slam Records SLAMCD 574
Giovanni Ferri, – alto saxophone; Mirco Ballabene, – double bass, electronics; Mirco Bindelli, – drums, percussion
Recorded 1, 2, 3 November 2014 at Lunik Studio, Pesaro, Italy
An assorted accumulation of various sounds contrive to lay down ‘melodies’ which it seemed to me were attempting to sound as though there were no differences between them – the structures and tonalities of each were almost repetitive. The overall sound at any one moment came over to me as rather reminiscent of eastern European folk music, fairground music perhaps, or even street music: Strade meaning roads or streets renders this unsurprising perhaps. There is however a degree of development in each track which confirms that we are in the realm of experimentation and that improvisation is the key.
Ferri works with visual arts and theatre milieus, as well as purely musical frameworks and has worked as far afield as Japan. Mirco Ballbene’s roots are firmly set in jazz and improv and include the 2016 Torino jazz festival with Anthony Braxton’s Sonic Genome, Braxton's ‘Magnum Opus’. This work attempts to generate an interactive musical environment in which some 70 musicians play and develop compositions and extemporizations from Braxton’s 40-year-long musical account.
Mirco Bindelli has reconnoitred his way through a wide diversity of inventive jazz methods and genres, since starting as a self-taught musician when he was aged just 14. Paul Motian was one of his tutors. He is credited with two of the tracks on this album (3 and 7) the rest are from Giovanni Ferri.
Reviewed by Ken Cheetham
