Francesco Bearzatti Tinissima Quartet - Suite for Tina Modotti (2008)

Parco della Musica Records (Fondazione Musica per Roma): MPR 008CD
http://www.auditorium.com/pdm_records/4915982



* Francesco Bearzatti: tenor saxophone, clarinet
* Giovanni Falzone: trumpet, human effects
* Danilo Gallo: double bass, acoustic bass guitar
* Zeno de Rossi: drums, percussions

http://www.francescobearzatti.com/
http://www.giovannifalzone.com/
http://www.danilogallo.com/
http://www.allmusic.com/artist/zeno-derossi-mn0000965826

Registrato dal vivo e mixato a Udine, Arte & Suono
il 4.5 e 27 giugno da Stefano Amerio.


Tina Modotti
http://www.modotti.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tina_Modotti
http://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tina_Modotti
http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tina_Modotti


Reviews

By Stef
http://www.freejazzblog.org/...zatti-tinissima-quartet.html

Tina Modotti was an Italian model, actress, avant-garde photographer and
revolutionary political activist who died in 1942. She moved from Italy to the
US, then to Mexico, then to communist Russia, then to Spain during the Civil
War and back to Mexico. There's plenty to be found about her on the internet,
so I won't go into her life and works here. Italian saxophonist/clarinetist
Francesco Bearzatti brings homage to her with this great CD, accompanied by
Giovanni Falzone on trumpet, Danilo Gallo on bass and bass guitar, and Zeno de
Rossi on drums. The album is relatively programmatic in its approach, evoking
her life in a chronological order, with lots of drama, contextual elements
(Latin influences on "Mexico", flamenco electric bass on "Guerra Civil", or the
war-like sounds on the same track) but joy, fun and happiness too in some of
the uptempo pieces, as in "America" or "Missions". All of the tracks fully fit
within the "suite" concept, each evolving in tempo and approach as life itself
does. The great thing is that the four musicians' technical skills are
sufficiently broad to master all of Bearzatti's compositional excursions,
playing their way across all sorts of musical genres and subgenres
effortlessly, which allows them to really explore the emotional aspects of Tina
Modotti's adventurous and unusual life and personality. From swing to free jazz
and avant-garde, but there is some brass band music here too, Latin, flamenco
and bop, some balkan influences as well as slow funeral marches. In a way,
Charlie Haden's "Ballad To The Fallen" comes to mind, in its dramatic and
overtly sentimental approach, but then performed by a quartet. The real
highlights are the slower tracks, such as "Russia" and "Hermana No Duermes",
the last track. On the former, Bearzatti's clarinet solo will make the tears
jump from your eyes, and Falzone's trumpet will force the last drop out of you,
while on the latter track, Bearzatti's final solo is absolutely hair-raising in
its tearing wailing, played over a repetitive one-note bass drone and
clattering drums, while the muted trumpet echoes sadly in the
background. Amazing stuff at times. A very rich, varied and beautiful album.

--

Di Monica Leggio (it)
http://www.romainjazz.it/recensioni/957

Par Thierry Giard (fr)
http://www.culturejazz.fr/spip.php?article791