Enrico Pieranunzi
Live At The Village Vanguard

Stop the noise. A goal, a necessity, a need arising from the void that whistles in your ears at three hundred kilometers per hour in the narrow space that separates some phonemes interrupted by feral screams. It seems madness but often amidst the deafening clamor of nothingness that transforms into a sociality I barely understand and comprehend, an ignorance likely stemming from my inability to navigate a convivial context, recordings like "Live At The Village Vanguard" by Enrico Pieranunzi act as a balm with incredible soothing capabilities. A piano that caresses your soul in a succession of notes whose fit is a perfect geometry, a mathematics of emotions sustained by a rhythm section where the late Paul Motian plays with cymbals and drums to remind us that a drummer is not just a "rhythm bearer" but a chiseler who embellishes, invents, and surprises, the perfect interlocutor for an elegant and pulsating double bass that acts as a bridge between rhythm and improvisation. A role Marc Johnson fulfills with the skill and passion of a musician accustomed to grand occasions, one of those who rides a stage, no matter how important, with tenacity and firmness, paying it due respect with the class of performance.

A stage, that of the Vanguard, certainly challenging. In the New York venue, the cream of the world jazz has moved, a diamond that within it has gathered a series of gems that have transformed into works of enormous historical significance, above all: "Live At The Village Vanguard" by John Coltrane, a live work of sublime narrative power that has become a true cult object for all Jazz enthusiasts. Enrico Pieranunzi stepped into this temple quietly, with a setlist capable of ranging from America to Italy, alternating original pieces by the Roman pianist with improvisations on Monk, Rota, Konitz, and Rodgers/Hart, all in an atmosphere I would define as almost dreamlike, a kind of black and white dream in which a Miles Davis, sitting among the audience, would not look out of place, smoking a cigarette listening to the splendid phrases put together by the trio. I don't know why, but if I close my eyes, it really seems like I can see him: the cloud of smoke partially covering his face while he keeps time with his foot. The past and the present united by the thin threads of suggestion and imagination. But I am digressing, and I ask your forgiveness, even though in my defense, I can only say that for a music enthusiast like me, notes are often like soundtracks on which I build an imaginary film, a private meta-narrative to retreat into and feel calm and relaxed. On such albums, not only is the performance etched but the atmosphere of the place where it happened is also ferried onto a digital medium: we are at the Vanguard in a summer of 2010, listening/watching Enrico Pieranunzi, Paul Motian, and Marc Johnson holding a splendid concert. The empathetic aspect is part of the game, and this is the magic that distinguishes an excellent live album from any other live! If you then add to all this perfect interplay, great creativity and elegance, accompanied by an excellent recording, then it is not difficult to understand that works like this should be bought and supported because good music, the artisanal kind made with heart and soul, is a cure for the spirit, a vehicle that spreads a culture that goes beyond the comic portrayal of stereotypes that should make one cry rather than laugh but are so dear to the Italian mass media. Musicians like Pieranunzi remind us that Italy is a country that for centuries has been a real forge where the foundations for the most diverse art forms have been forged and that, even if buried under a mountain of smoldering dung, they are still very much alive in those who dedicate far more than a mere line to art to appear "cultured."

Having said this, I leave you with the invitation to take "Live At The Village Vanguard" by Enrico Pieranunzi to listen to it and make it your own, to keep with you a piece of history of our Jazz, in which for the first time in many years, Italy exports abroad a valid and highly esteemed artist.

"Live At The Village Vanguard" - Enrico Pieranunzi: piano; Paul Motian: drums; Marc Johnson: bass.