Alessandro Ducoli
Brumantica

The mist, for those who are not well-versed in rivers and forests, is the science that deals with the river fog appearing in October and November. And so, appropriately, this is an album to listen to at night or during one of those melancholic autumn days with falling leaves and mist as a backdrop.

Be careful, however, because Ducoli's imagination, when it seems to go one way, can suddenly swerve and change course completely, and his stories never have an expected ending. Ducoli has quit smoking (lucky him!), but he has not stopped and will never stop dreaming. A series of songs to be listened to at night, in silence, slip under the skin like blades and therefore deserve attention, as Tom Waits would say, "looking for someone to take care of them, don't be afraid, they don't bite".

This time, he has decided to gift himself and us a collection of pearls in purely jazz territory, accompanied by a series of true music sheet virtuosos. It's one of the facets of Alessandro Ducoli, this versatile musician who is sometimes a jazzman, sometimes a rock'n'roller, sometimes an Italian songwriter.

The list of musicians is truly "jaw-dropping" (he calls it "a crazy outing", for me it's a group of experts): Alessandro Galati on piano and keyboards, Ellade Bandini on drums, Ares Tavolazzi on bass, Fabrizio Bosso (a truly emerging trumpet talent), the loyal Mario Stivala and the great Sandro Gibellini on guitar, not to mention Tino Tracanna on sax, plus Paolo Filippi (bass in "Lettera") and Teo Marchese (drums in "Blou"). From such a list of musicians, we hear an album that is pure poetry both textually and musically, listen to believe what these men have done to De Andrè's "Canzone di Marinella" (simply stunning), as well as the rest of the album.

In my opinion, the entire album is well above average, but two songs stand out that personally, I can't go a day without listening to at least three or four times: "Blou" and "Maddaluna", but generally, the whole album leaves an impression, and it's not to be listened to amidst confusion. To best appreciate it, listen to it in tranquility and at least three times in succession. Superficiality cannot reside in albums like this. Moreover, it's worth noting that the album was recorded and produced at Cavò Studio in Bergamo by Paolo Filippi, who will also handle the album's promotion.