John Patitucci
Line By Line

Collaborating with "master" personalities of an art and with important figures for your musical growth, it is inevitable that your creativity and productions quickly acquire stylistic maturity. This is the case with John Patitucci.

Maestro Patitucci in his grand career has collaborated and collaborates with the biggest names in the jazz scene, just to name a few, people like: Chick Corea, Wayne Shorter, Robben Ford. These "sacred monsters" were struck especially by his great expressiveness. Expressiveness indeed, as Patitucci is one of those few bassists who "plays" his bass lines with his body. Watching any video of this man, you'll immediately be struck by his warm, calm, relaxed, corporeal, and almost plastic approach with his instrument, almost as if he manages to give a human character to each note. Whether it's an electric bass or a double bass, he does all this in a way that is nothing short of divine. By listening to this work and not only, you will notice how the bass solos are balanced and few in number, leaving room for the great emotion of the other instruments, as he deeply understands their "character and voice," demonstrating himself to be a sensitive and attentive composer; somewhat like Pastorius did with the brief but sublime "Forgotten Love."

"Line by Line" is an album to listen to in one breath, as it is a crescendo of calm improvisations, very intelligent counterpoints, delightful melodies. While listening, it feels as though each track is "the base" for the next one, as if every measure is "imprisoned" within the instruments, and it's up to our "sculptor" to bring out the best.

The sound of the entire work never sinks into too much dissonance or into digressions that would ruin the "spirituality" of the album. The record is permeated by constant neutrality, each form does not infect the other, and we can say that each track could be listened to incessantly, without ever tiring.

Among fourteen musical gems worth noting are:

"Agigato" presents carefully crafted piano phrasing, which softens but at the same time harmonically supports the sax unison. The double bass, while limiting itself to the execution of the tonic notes, certainly does not find itself sidelined as it seems to preserve the beautiful balance that exists between the instruments.

With "Dry September", a piece by guitarist Adam Rogers, it takes us out of the harmonic staticity of the record, finding undoubtedly atonal solutions with a driving pace.

"Theme and Variations for 6-string bass and strings" is the first piece where Patitucci uses the bow on the double bass, showing us also his classical vein. You will immediately notice John's ability to give value to the notes, giving them colors and hence nuances, thanks to the wise use of vibrato and especially thanks to his hands.

"Evidence", almost funky and full of so much great groove, is a remake of the namesake track by the great Thelonious Monk. The bass in this track makes its presence known, but it does not disturb in any way the mood of the rest of the instruments, appearing at times with very slight slips. This track could very well be contained in a "Face First."

"Soaring" presents a very sweet string quartet that dialogues perfectly with the double bass, chasing each other, moving from baroque cadences to unexpected changes from a late Debussy. As if that wasn't enough, we jump to the '50s as its harmonious 6-string overlays the contrapuntal fabric of the strings.

Let's not forget the very respectable lineup that perfectly understood the Maestro's intentions: the aforementioned Adam Rogers on guitar, renowned modern jazz composer and also a member of Michael Brecker's band, Chris Potter on sax, also collaborator of the late Charles Mingus, and finally Brian Blade on drums, brilliant in the effects with cymbals and also a member of Wayne Shorter's most recent quartet.

The production is optimal, although to fully enjoy Patitucci's double bass sound an excellent equalization is required, due to various noises and other disturbances connected to the recordings of acoustic instruments.

To conclude this journey that I hope you enjoyed, I can only recommend this album to all lovers of jazz played with the heart but also to those who love experiments that, although not explicit in this album, are nonetheless present and even more evocative.