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Rating: From your correspondent Jake Chambers - vol. 2
Tonight's concert, held at the "C.Pollini" auditorium like the previous one, is of interest to me for many reasons. Firstly, the eclecticism and originality of a musician like Paolo Damiani.
Originality because Damiani, while having been Giorgio Gaslini's double bassist, is fundamentally a cellist. His need to combine the characteristics of both instruments led him to play a five-string cello (an object that would probably delight Ron Carter!), where the fifth lower string expands the dynamic range, combining the rhythmic fullness of the double bass with the authoritative voice of the cello.
Eclecticism because Damiani is the protagonist of cross-disciplinary projects that combine music and words: the album "Baldanders," with texts and narration by Stefano Benni, accompanied by soloists of the caliber of Paolo Fresu and Gianluigi Trovesi; the sound commentary for several audiobooks (A. Camilleri "Un filo di fumo," read by Fiorello) and theatrical works. Without forgetting the works with the Instable Italian Orchestra...
Finally, among the ranks of his "Quasi Band" (what an intriguing name!) are two artists to whom I am very attached: the Italo-Argentine saxophonist Javier Girotto and the Roman pianist Rita Marcotulli, of whom (excuse the self-citation) I have already written in previous reviews. Completing the ensemble are the drummer-percussionist Michele Rabbia (and thus we've covered half of the Aires Tango) and the remarkable singer Diana Torto.
An ensemble already tested in the album "Al tempo che farà", which won the Top Jazz award for best Italian album of 2007. A work in which Damiani sublimates all experiences by combining very different artistic experiences, collaborating with leading figures from the worlds of art, music, and literature, from the writer Andrea Camilleri to the guitarist Bebo Ferra, from the actor Ivano Marescotti to the pianist Danilo Rea.
The concert presents itself as a long suite, with Girotto, Marcotulli, and Rabbia taking moments of complete solitude, with instrumental performances bordering on the sublime, to reconnect the thread between two consecutive pieces. Girotto opens his wonderful piece "Pa-ritango" with a long, heartfelt, "screamed" soprano sax introduction that charges the audience with waves of energy, almost forcing them to explode in a liberating round of applause. Marcotulli introduces her "Just Feel" (present in the successful album "Koiné") by playing directly on the piano strings. Rabbia dominates with his art of percussion, equipped with a myriad of "unidentified sound objects", from which he draws a vast range of sounds, ranging from the tabla to the kalimba to the xylophone.
In his original compositions, Paolo Damiani, who sits contentedly at the center of the stage like a plump spider at the center of its sound web, relies on short melodic phrases, light and sinuous, full of Mediterranean brightness, weaving a delicate balance among the strong personalities of the soloists involved. Remarkable and moving are the two-person improvisations, like the duet between Girotto's sax and Torto, who displays respectable vocal power and flexibility, in the opening piece; and later, the dialogue between Marcotulli and the saxophonist, which is not surprising, given their long years of collaboration (Girotto has played on almost all of Rita's albums).
The sung pieces fit harmoniously into the sound landscape thus outlined: "Dirindena", from "Al tempo che farà", a sweet nursery rhyme written by Ivano Marescotti, and "Quello che non voglio", a song written by Stefano Benni for Fabrizio De André.
If we really want to find fault, not all of Damiani's efforts are perfect: it's difficult to reconcile such strong personalities, sometimes there are moments of lesser clarity, perhaps Torto's voice is a bit muffled during the "full" instrumental moments, the drums seem mixed too "forward". But these are really details, for a concert that almost immediately creates a very strong emotional impact and leaves the audience justifiably ecstatic.
Score: 9/10 rounded down.
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