Reissues
The Remembering
Luca Mannutza, born in Cagliari, Sardinia, in 1968, has spent more than half of his entire life as a jazz musician, under multiple roles: from being a simple passionate listener and a researcher he soon became interpreter, composer, arranger and producer, everything in the name of a musical genre that since the early ’90s has literally obscured anything else.
Therefore, we find Mannutza debuting alongside big personalities such as Paolo Fresu, Emanuele Cisi, Maurizio Giammarco and Bebo Ferra, an…
Fabrizio Bosso Plays Enchantment – L’incantesimo di Nino Rota
The enchanting atmospheres, the daydreams, the sketches and the caricatures of some other legendary film scenes. This and much more will live in one of the most anticipated records of the year: “Enchantment, the spell of Nino Rota”, the Tribute to Nino Rota, gentle and sweet man, always smiling, as brilliant in writing music as much as modest in all other aspects of life, that Fabrizio Bosso pays to him with the extraordinary participation of the London Symphony Orchestra, on arrangements and di…
Ukitusa
Starring the multi-awarded vocalist Cleveland Watkiss and pianist Antonio Figura, “Ukitusa” was recorded in July 2011 in an open, mountainous region of Northern Italy in a peaceful town in the vicinity of Udine. Five musicians from three different countries came together with open ears and hearts to create a special collection of music. The genesis of the band was interesting. Through Antonio Figura, the nuclear member of the group, each of the musicians had some prior contact with at least one …
Lunar
Lunar is a journey into the magical freedom of Lorenzo Tucci and Luca Mannutza. Hardly ever happens in jazz music to be caught by a charming madness, a folly vein whose effect is so attractive as disarming. It’s not about listening to an improvvisation, which is something unexpected by its nature. It’s about the true freedom of expression of a journey into sound whose route is shaped by this madness, something that can be unleashed without fear only by someone with strong skills and total contro…
Metamorphosis
I think that the title of this album is perfectly congenial – ”Metamorphosis” as for “profound transformation in form and structure”. I have known and listened to Guido, born in 1935, for more than 40 years and consider myself as an expert of his impressive musical production since his debut in 1966. Guido is a full-blooded swinger and his playing is firmly rooted in the tradition. Surprisingly, after listening to this record I hear and find a pianist astonishingly original and dynamic playing w…
The Round About
In today’s jazz scene it’s pretty much common knowledge that maintaining a stable group of working musicians is no small task. All too often economics dictate that in order to survive in the creative jungle, a working musician must keep his options open. So with this in mind one can take heart when many such in-demand musicians through their own desire make time in their very busy lives to return to a project that they hold close to their creative souls. It is precisely this center of gravity th…
Strong Place
“Antonio knows how to exploit the dynamic qualities of the piano, and he honours the spaces between the notes. He’s achieved a truly timeless trio sound that really gives your imagination space to wander. His trio both play with empathy and unleash the fire when necessary, and the high production values on this record also make it a real aural treat”- Soweto Kinch
“Strong Place”, out in January 2010, features the Afro-American rhythm section of Herbie Hancock, one of the most famous in the New Y…
The Golden Eight - Encore!
*2022 stock* This reissue is great news for the jazz-loving community. The multi-national Golden Eight ensemble assembled by Gigi Campi featured Kenny Clarke and Jimmy Woode (USA), Francy Boland and Chris Kellens (Belgium), Dusko Gojkovic (Yugoslavia), Raymond Droz (Switzerland), Derek Humble (UK) and Karl Drevo (Austria). And it was the forerunner of the legendary Clarke-Boland Big Band. Seven of the eleven pieces in the album are distinctive originals by Boland, the remaining four tracks being…
The Virtuoso of Sitar Vol. II
First vinyl reissue of this Indian classical masterpiece recorded by Shrimati Kalyani Roy in the late 1960s. Undoubtedly one of the most talented sitar players in the history of the instrument. She is considered as one the finest female players in a field that was dominated by her male counterparts. On these recordings, a two-volume set, she is accompanied by Manick Das (tabla) and Namita Chatterjee (tambura). Recorded in Japan on September 20th, 1974. Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 (V 2011LP) come as two se…
The Virtuoso of Sitar Vol. I
First vinyl reissue of this Indian classical masterpiece recorded by Shrimati Kalyani Roy in the late 1960s. Undoubtedly one of the most talented sitar players in the history of the instrument. She is considered as one the finest female players in a field that was dominated by her male counterparts. On these recordings, a two-volume set, she is accompanied by Manick Das (tabla) and Namita Chatterjee (tambura). Recorded in Japan on September 20th, 1974. Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 (V 2011LP) come as two se…
Sitar & Electronics
This work was originally released in 1971 by Okko Bekker, a Dutch sitar player, keyboardist, and producer who has worked with the likes of Brian Eno, Conny Plank, Asmus Tietchens, and Moebius. As the title suggests, this is a sitar and synthesizer dominated trip through six groovy and jazzy originals and two covers. Featuring help from jazz legend Herb Geller on flute, 'Sitar & Electronics' is a funky and rare piece of European exotica that finally returns to vinyl again.
Miscellanea
**150 copies, black vinyl** Miscellanea – originally released in 1969 on cult italian label Sermi SR Records (home of famous composer such as Bruno Nicolai, Francesco De Masi, I Marc 4 and more) – is the debut of composer Luigi Zito, an in-demand session player and music director throughout all the seventies. An extremely brilliant music library with lots of jazz licks, descriptive and improvisational themes composed with a multitude of instruments, including the famous whistle by the one and on…
Playing With The Trio
*2022 stock* “There is a two-fold pleasure in listening to the leader of a big band play in a trio setting. First, there is the satisfaction of hearing a voice that is normally in the background being brought to centre stage. As a composer and arranger, Francy Boland typically spoke with many tongues. Like Ellington, he wrote with specific players in mind and so, as with a playwright, we usually hear his thoughts interpreted and given utterance by others. The big band format allows the band-lead…
Blue Train
*2022 stock* It all started with a scratchy, somewhat surfacenoisy tape early in 1966.There were a few Italian words scribbled on a piece of paper – and someone called Guido Manusardi playing a whole lot of piano. Well, Sweden is fairly used to Italian musicians traveling the hotel and restaurant circuit. But Italian jazz musicians in the business – that was a novelty. Even more so since signor Manusardi appeard to be ready for a wide audience.In fact, not even that first and badly balanced do-i…
Quartetto Gianni Basso
*2022 stock* Gianni Basso represents one of the most solid institutions of the Italian jazz. He has been like this since the beginning, when he appeared in Milan after some years abroad. At that time he already had a long story behind him as an activist jazz musician: he started playing during his childhood in his hometown of Asti (where he was born in 1931) and then in Belgium, where his father emigrated with his family to work in the mines. It was there that he discovered the jazz music at its…
Mirrors
*2022 stock* There is a school of thought which maintains that it is something of a tragedy that Benny has had to earn his living and play his trade as an American emigre in Europe, far from the centre of major jazz activities in his native United States. His contribution, they argue, would have been so much larger and much more widely appreciated. He may have won more polls, true. But the personal contentment which life in the more relaxed atmosphere of Western Europe has supplied probably more…
Reincarnation of a Lovebird
*2022 stock* The opinion of jazz musicians concerning Charles Mingus’ compositions and his protean musical world is that for a long time they represented an area that should be avoided or, at most, dealt with care. Just a few years after his death, of which his thirtieth anniversary occurs this year, they started to look deeper into his repertory, except for a part of which had been proposed in the past (Goodbye Pork Pie Hat was the most largely used).
Just like Duke Ellington various projects w…
Jazz In Studio
*2022 stock* 2008 Release. This record is the fruit of five months of hard work in the recording studio, rehearsals and even sacrifices as told by Enrico Intra and I am obviously satisfied with it. But I sure don't want to consider it a goal. I feel like I'm going toward the right direction and I hope my next work is further confirmation of the effort, seriousness and true passion I've put into my music. Those who know Enrico Intra remember his face like a baby always living in cloud-cuckoo-land…
Swing, Waltz, Swing
*2022 stock* Three – instead of – four this figure can mean a whole different world, when it comes to beats. Whereas the even number lets you march straight, turns right-angled, divides itself symmetrically, the odd rhythm goes around in circles and whirls. One heavy step, followed by two light ones, that can not go straight, that has to turn and turn and turn. The old Vienna and its young people was once ruled by “Waltz speeding” as today the beat shakes up even country dancefloors. Yet, that c…
Lady Heavy Bottom's Waltz
*2022 stock* They called him the “Little Giant” long ago in Chicago – they still call him so. In order to understand why “Little” you have to see him – it’s enough to hear him to understand why “Giant”. But just to listen to him means missing out on so much. “I just look at Johnny and feel the power of positive swinging”, the “producer” says.
Like most small people (let’s not exaggerate the “small” – he’s not exactly a dwarf) Johnny appears to have been blessed with an extra portion of energy. H…