Mario Biondi and the High Five Quintet
Handful Of Soul

From five plus one*, generally and according to what arithmet®ics teach(es), one would extrapolate an algebrically very sacred (and DeB-impossible) product-Six.

Vice/versa, in addressing the auditory experience of such a high and furthermore Jazz-Soul Quintettistiqo ensemble tricoloriform, to the fallacious de-memory, the applicability of the archaic-algebric NoMeansNo-iana theory arises ("0+2 = 1"): that is, not always the simple sum of addends generates what is hypothetically and simplistically numerologically pre-supposed.

What would I be trying to say?
I wouldn't have the slightest idea (seriously): but that's not the point.

The fact remains** that such a sparsely maned, Sicilian & young dandy, with a notable und really interesting Negroid-Soul-Voice pulls out of the hat such a splendid and graceful discobolus also thanks to the far-sighted economical coin management of Milanese "Schema Records": as many as twelve are the musical portions of the delightful dish offered to our audio-taste buds for a total of (slightly less than) an hour of comprehensive tasting; Good Old Mario throws himself, extending throughout the velvety and moderately sound-demodé debut disc, into his own personal singing virtue, dodging gracefully but (all too) evenly between appreciable and Martinist reinterpretations of semi-obscured Jazz classics ["I Can't Keep From Crying Sometime", "I'm Her Daddy"] to calibrated, elegant, sometimes winning indigenous segments (the ultra-well-known, NicolaContiana par excellence "This Is What You Are", "Never Die", or the strong, very pleasant track that titles the work).

What does not completely (convince me) (if we want to dare to be so unkind) about this enjoyable new-old-jazz (?) work lies in the instrumental lack (rather: complete absence) of preference for any type of "modern" contamination: a sort of sound-impermeability that sometimes turns into absolute predictability of the postponed solutions: everything sounds moderately wonderfully, through and by virtue of an aseptic "formal perfection" that on one side leaves pleasantly surprised but on the other expresses exactly what one would expect, therefore how (conversely) it should not.

For the avoidance of doubt, it is good to highlight that there is nothing to object regarding the enjoyability and the actual overall pleasantness: admirable performers pleasant to the hearing and, naturellement, nothing to say against the remarkable talent, the effectiveness, and the pleasantness offered by the throaty, shadowy, stern and generous vocalizations of Mister Biondi, the work flows ever more joyfully from the first to the concluding track, without any skip-extrapolator temptation. Furthermore, it is appropriate to consider that if they had "dared" more, we would find among our worn-out and nibbled fingertips not only a pleasant, radio-friendly, moderately transitory but sparkling diversion.

Anyway, they are young: they will make it (not in the broad sense, I hope).

* Mario Biondi (voice); Fabrizio Bosso: trumpet Daniele Scannapieco: sax Luca Mannutza: piano Lorenzo Tucci: drums Pietro Cincaglini (double bass) Sandro De Bellis (percussions); Gianluca Petrella (trombone)

** and here would begin (conditional required) the "true" Bionda discussion: the initial part could have been quietly omitted.. I realize this only now that I should/could have testified it before: damn mononeuron!!