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Rating: I had read about Alessandro Grazian in some music magazines. They spoke very well of him. My musical curiosity led me to Casa 139 on Thursday evening. I arrived very late and thought I had missed the concert. However, I entered just a few seconds before the show began. On the house stage, there were some unusual instruments, even if acoustic, a harp, a cello, a double bass, a clarinet, along with an electric piano and other various instruments. The astonishment vanished shortly after. A light suite for solo harp introduced the evening. Then, they all came on stage, including Grazian on acoustic guitar, and began to fill the air with magical sounds. Gradually all the songs of the new album "Caduto," Grazian's debut (Trovarobato/macaco records).
The poetic compositions mixed with echoes of waltz, late Renaissance ballads, pop jazz avant-garde, bordering on classical music themes, are executed with mastery and good stage presence, evoking nighttime journey atmospheres. Alternating on stage, now all, now only Grazian, they brought to life a unique situation, reminiscent of a New York Village club in the Dylan-era sixties, when fantasy and the desire for mental escape permeated the air. At one point, Grazian remained alone on stage and performed a poignant version with an emotionally devastating finale of "Amico Fragile" by the poet De André, rendering him a heartfelt homage that the master would surely have appreciated. An intense concert, imbued with poetry, musical gems, well-crafted arrangements, classy, anything but formulaic, inspired, and deliberate melodic desecrations a la Quinto Rigo, for a term of comparison more for instrumental choice than true affinity, but we could easily invoke Jeff Buckley or Nick Drake, though it would merely provide a reference that in Grazian's case is superfluous, he has talent and imagination. On stage, he seems like a sort of minstrel, with a lanky and slightly absent-minded air, perhaps due to the strong cold that struck him a few days before, which does not spoil his lovely voice, only makes it a bit hoarser. The evening is tinged with humor, and one notices a strong bond among the accompanying quartet, the same ones who contributed to the making of the album, recorded against the trend in direct take with few overdubs, within a club in Padua, the city where Grazian was born.
Truly a beautiful concert, somewhat unusual for my normal listening, but it makes me hopeful for the future of Italian music, especially indie. Grazian truly has the numbers, the imagination, the right visions to move forward and give us other gems in this musical sea polluted by apathy. Congratulations to those of the "famous label Trovarobato" and "Macaco rec" for giving us all the opportunity to enjoy the recorded album, and to Casa 139, for making him perform live. I am glad I listened to my curiosity once again. Leaving the club even the chill of the Milanese night illuminated by a strange full moon seemed to have diminished. for information: www.alessandrograzian.it
© Bonfo
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