GIOVANNI GUIDI - Avec Le Temps
ECM 770 6820
Giovanni Guidi: piano; Francesco Bearzatti: tenor saxophone; Roberto Cecchetto: guitar; Thomas Morgan: double bass; Joao Lobo: drums
Recorded November 2917 by Manfred Eicher at Studios La Buisonne
The set opens and closes with trio performances of songs of loss. First, there is a wistful rendition of ‘Avec les temps’, one of those songs from the tradition of French chanson (written by Leo Ferre) that captures the pain of lost love. At the end there is the simply title ‘Tomasz’, written in memory of Tomasz Stanko. In these tunes, and throughout the set, Morgan’s bass and Lobo’s drums are so closely tied the melody lines that they seem to be an extension of the solo instrument, whether this is piano in the trio, or sax and guitar in the expanded quintet here. This means that, as a rhythm section, they provide so much more than the pulse of each piece but get right inside the heart of the music to provide a continuous commentary and emphasis of the shifting emotions.
Adding the sax and guitar creates a new palette for Guidi to work with, and these players work very well together and interpret the tunes with great care and creative flair. As a quintet, this group has toured as Giovanni Guidi Inferno, and the press release makes play of the burning fire that this name might conjure – but I wonder if there is also a nod towards the Italian poet of the Inferno, and a sense that the many circles, each with their own peculiarities might also be an apt metaphor for the ways in which the many layers in each piece (composed and improvised) create a journey from deep and dark patches to brilliantly illuminated spaces. As a set, the pieces have a marvellous capacity to change the mood of the music and to present all of the shades with equal respect. If the quintet’s name, Inferno, is a nod to Dante, then this might also explain the literary wit behind the title of track 3, ‘Postludium and a kiss’ - postludium being the opposite of a prelude, and so nodding to the Duke Ellington song – which is also hinted at (I think) in some of the chord progressions here. At times, this pushes Guidi into the role of supporting player – sometimes it feels as if the piano is carrying the entire weight of the duties of a rhythm section. At other times, particularly in the trio pieces but also in ‘Taxi driver’ (track 4), Guidi shows himself to be at ease shifting from the lyrical playing for which he is so well known, into wilder avenues of the avant-garde.
Reviewed Chris Baber
ECM 770 6820
Giovanni Guidi: piano; Francesco Bearzatti: tenor saxophone; Roberto Cecchetto: guitar; Thomas Morgan: double bass; Joao Lobo: drums
Recorded November 2917 by Manfred Eicher at Studios La Buisonne
The set opens and closes with trio performances of songs of loss. First, there is a wistful rendition of ‘Avec les temps’, one of those songs from the tradition of French chanson (written by Leo Ferre) that captures the pain of lost love. At the end there is the simply title ‘Tomasz’, written in memory of Tomasz Stanko. In these tunes, and throughout the set, Morgan’s bass and Lobo’s drums are so closely tied the melody lines that they seem to be an extension of the solo instrument, whether this is piano in the trio, or sax and guitar in the expanded quintet here. This means that, as a rhythm section, they provide so much more than the pulse of each piece but get right inside the heart of the music to provide a continuous commentary and emphasis of the shifting emotions.
Adding the sax and guitar creates a new palette for Guidi to work with, and these players work very well together and interpret the tunes with great care and creative flair. As a quintet, this group has toured as Giovanni Guidi Inferno, and the press release makes play of the burning fire that this name might conjure – but I wonder if there is also a nod towards the Italian poet of the Inferno, and a sense that the many circles, each with their own peculiarities might also be an apt metaphor for the ways in which the many layers in each piece (composed and improvised) create a journey from deep and dark patches to brilliantly illuminated spaces. As a set, the pieces have a marvellous capacity to change the mood of the music and to present all of the shades with equal respect. If the quintet’s name, Inferno, is a nod to Dante, then this might also explain the literary wit behind the title of track 3, ‘Postludium and a kiss’ - postludium being the opposite of a prelude, and so nodding to the Duke Ellington song – which is also hinted at (I think) in some of the chord progressions here. At times, this pushes Guidi into the role of supporting player – sometimes it feels as if the piano is carrying the entire weight of the duties of a rhythm section. At other times, particularly in the trio pieces but also in ‘Taxi driver’ (track 4), Guidi shows himself to be at ease shifting from the lyrical playing for which he is so well known, into wilder avenues of the avant-garde.
Reviewed Chris Baber
