Alessandro Ducoli
Brumantica - 2012 Edition

Alessandro Ducoli, a semi-unknown artist from Val Camonica, released in 2006 what I believe is the best Italian album of the 2000s. A perfect blend of jazz and singer-songwriter music that does justice to both. One could even think of it as the stroke of luck of a Sunday musician, were it not for the fact that he plays with jazz musicians of the caliber of Ellade Bandini, Ares Tavolazzi (people who have played with AREA, accompanied Lee Konitz, Francesco Guccini, Paolo Conte, Vinicio Capossela), and Fabrizio Bosso (who needs no introduction). No, their presence cannot be merely attributed to luck. Perhaps, to be honest, he was somewhat helped by Bosso's participation, which was not initially planned: the trumpeter was in the same studio for another project and joined the group. Yet this magnificent album, which tells of mist, ditches, and moonless nights, did not prevent his self-produced career from continuing as before, as if nothing had happened. With his hypertrophic creativity and productivity, the thousand parallel projects, and multiple personalities.

In 2012, luckily for us, with the original pressings almost sold out, he decided to release a remixed and remastered version of Brumantica. The vocals in this version are somewhat more prominent, giving greater visibility to the splendid verses and Ducoli's wild interpretation, and in certain tracks different takes have been added. Frankly, I would not know whether to prefer the original or the remixed version: in the original the voice travels in symbiosis with the music, an instrument among instruments, while in the new version the poetry of the lyrics is more highlighted.

The jewel that makes this reissue unmissable is the version for piano and voice alone of all the tracks, placed at the end of the album. Accompanied by Andrej Kutov, Ducoli launches into versions now more intimate, now more wild of the songs, matured over the course of the duo's live performances. The pieces here are in some cases completely disemboweled and reconstructed, acquiring a second life.

The album in its two versions is easily available in digital format online, while to have a physical copy, you need to contact Ducoli via email (which I did).