Gallo And The Roosters
Todo Chuecho

Travel notebook, manifesto of the author's monochrome philosophy, this work by Danilo Gallo can be considered his "Tjiuana moods"; but, unlike Mingus who, thanks to the rejuvenating dip in the vices of the bordello city, the initiation place of every American, rose again, galvanized and vital, and capable of producing a work rich in new energy, in his "Gallo and the roosters" the double bassist and composer from Foggia finds confirmation of his essentially tragic moods in Mexico.

A circus parade of skeletons in sombreros, the looming fate and the inevitability of death and then nothing else, but the articulation of gloom in various facets, sometimes even cheerful, albeit through gritted teeth. But this CD is also the multiplication of the sound of his instrument; a bassist of hadenian derivation, Gallo is in love with the passive sounds of his double bass. You hear a continuous cracking like a whip in the tracks; the note is undefined, and the harmonic halo of the strings prevails. An intestinal sound, color of burnt chocolate. Gallo, as I was saying, stretches his timbre for a rather unusual ensemble, featuring on bass clarinet Achille Succi (formerly of Vinicio Capossela’s band), on trombone Gherhard Gschlossl, and the trusty Zeno De Rossi (current drummer of Capossela) on drums.

As one might guess, the general timbre is dark, tending to gloomy albeit with flashes; and already the intro of the track "Kabu-l", which opens the selection, sets the war plan with Gschloss's trombone dueting with the leader's grumpy bow. After a few seconds, the group comes together on a binary beat, the track continues between De Rossi's cymbal slaps and the wooden creaking of Succi's clarinet. A clear and simple form that gets lost and found along the way. After all, we are traveling in an unknown land with many uncertainties.

"Piece froide n. 1" (Erik Satie) is the alibi for sketching a figurative-style portrait of the author himself discovering new lands. First uncertain, timid steps. Passion for an artist as affinity. As if to say: "In reality, I wrote it!"

The rumba "El Gallo Sanchez" is a tender tale of Mexican streets; a sweet party is ending, and people are gathering the last crumbs of pleasure. The first guest of the disc appears, the treacherous guitar of Enrico Terragnoli, skewed with Mexcal Oaxaca among the late firecrackers of the drummer.

"Lullaby of the rattlesnakes" proceeds heavy and uncertain in dangerous and unknown terrains, with Giorgio Pacorig's Rhodes, a sinister little organ from a Z-grade horror, until it meets the 9/8 and the peremptory sax of Daniele D'Agaro.

"Mysticisme nucléaire" sees a summit of reeds: three alto saxophones, Nicola Fazzini, Achille Succi, and the wrenching dolphian cry of promising Piero Bittolo Bon. We are in an Armageddon marked by De Rossi and U:T: Gandi’s military drums. For the writer, the most beautiful track of the collection, all enclosed in its inescapable irresolution.

Tom Waits, one of Danilo Gallo's favorite musicians, is honored in the cover of his tender "Alice", revisited as if it were a funeral elegy opened by Terragnoli and with Gschloss’s trombone growl mimicking the voice of the postmodern crooner.

The double bass opens the revisit of the second of Satie's "Pieces froides"; after the leader’s circumspection, the cover transforms into a chase of winds over an unhealthy odd twist.

"Bugsy Siegel", the tale of the deeds of the Jewish mobster taken out by Lucky Luciano, would be a great theme, among the best written by Gallo: I say would be because this arrangement, although excellently executed, feels too much like "Masada".

Another nation, another climate: "Udine". The somber return home (in the province of Udine, in Cavalicco, is where this CD was recorded); the author sums up the Mexican feats to rediscover that in the end, only ashes remain from the bonfires. The trend is that of blues, inevitably, until sudden Ellingtonian singing emerges. Traces of restrained joy, almost victorious in the final rush.