Enrico Pieranunzi
Racconti Mediterranei

Enrico Pieranunzi is an extraordinary musician, an authority in the international jazz scene. He has collaborated with the most prestigious names in American jazz and is the only European artist to be included (with two tracks) in the Jazz Standards collection in the new Real Book. His awards and recognitions are countless.

This 2001 album is different from his previous ones and is part of a series of works, published by EGEA, that mark a stylistic shift the pianist pursues alongside his more traditional productions. Rarefied melodies, enticing colorations in a sound environment that winks at Debussy on one side and popular tradition on the other. Velvety, sensual sounds, with a strong sense of color and touch. It's pure charm. It demonstrates that simplicity and beauty often coincide magnificently. They are portraits with strong emotional charge, "stories" indeed, of Mediterranean tales and landscapes.

The album's titles follow a non-random sequence, starting with a piece with an almost childlike rhythm, as if from a fairy tale, but very mature in compositional terms. Following are 10 other pearls, each more beautiful than the last, always whispered, like the most delicate tonal watercolors. But let not the listener be fooled by such musical "accessibility": it is a very dense album. Not surprisingly, the album was judged (the only Italian record) by the musical critics' poll (Critic's Choice) as one of the best recordings of 2001.
Alongside the pianist are two great musicians: the bassist Marc Johnson and the shining star of the Italian clarinet, Gabriele Mirabassi. The trio expresses itself in a state of grace, exuding unmatched mastery and control. Mirabassi's high registers fly high and fast over the double bass vibrations, creating with the piano a perfectly harmonic sound weave.

A full 5-star album.