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Rating: 8:15 PM, it is the first time I attend an evening of one of the, in my opinion, most important jazz festivals in the Italian scene, namely the Pomigliano Jazz but it's also my first time at a set of Paolo Fresu!
We park the car and, on the street, nothing suggests that in just moments, a great evening of excellent music is about to begin… we enter the public park, reach the central stage, and position ourselves in a dignified fifth row. Perfect visibility. Everything is ready for the full immersion!
At 9:40 PM, about an hour and ten minutes after the scheduled time, Paolo Fresu enters the stage with his quintet which, for the occasion, becomes a sextet, accompanied by a painter who instantly paints to the notes played.
The evening starts with "Que reste-t-il de nos amours", a reinterpretation of the classic by Charles Trenet featured in the masterpiece "Melos", and continues with "On second line" also from "Melos". The journey continues with other pieces from “Kosmopolites” and other works that are part of the project put together by the quintet on the occasion of their twentieth anniversary. The execution of "Kosmopolites", dreamy, is memorable. Imagine the notes coming from the piano inlaid with those coming from Fresu's trumpet and the other instruments that, almost silently, follow this beautiful dialogue, magical and in love, between the trumpet and the piano, without intervening too much so as not to disturb.
The audience applauds, Fresu continues to master the flugelhorn and trumpet, kicking barefoot, loses himself in daring phrases, enchanting with melodic sounds. The audience lets go but does not ask for an encore.
We move on to another great of jazz music, a young man of Vietnamese origins, who plays the bass and double bass in a divine manner and who, not by chance, has been defined as one of the best bassists in contemporary jazz. His is not a normal jazz concert but rather a fusion of genres, ranging from classical jazz, to oriental sounds, to the most ruthless and fun funk. It literally amazed me!!! He has impeccable technique, highly skilled, plays the double bass as if it were a guitar. He starts his set with the compelling "Feediop" from the album "At Home" and begins to amaze an audience that is not very active (perhaps not too enthusiastic about Fresu's live performance). In a past edition of Pomigliano Jazz, he had already made a name for himself alongside Chick Corea but yesterday he truly put on a show with his trio composed of two exceptional musicians (I use this superlative appropriately) worth mentioning: Sam Barsh on piano and electric piano and Mark Giuliana on drums. Two amazing musicians who managed to navigate Avishai's virtuosity, dialoguing with him, without difficulty. But what can I say about the magnificent "Remembering", full of melodic phrases, impressionistic and expansive, the crucial moment of the evening where Cohen also showed the audience his compositional skills…
In short, a leader, a frontman, especially, when in the encore, he unleashes himself in a ferocious funk, engaging the audience, already sufficiently warmed up by him previously, and moving, with the electric bass, as if he were a member of an important rock band. Avishai Cohen, besides being a legendary bassist, is also a character to keep an eye on in the jazz circuit, to be safeguarded, so that he doesn't become a mere sideshow! This valid and attentive musician is, first of all, a man who desires to share his music, to perform out of passion and not just for end-of-evening earnings. And I am convinced that he will continue to amaze with his performances (which will always scale) both the public and the critics. And I give you a piece of advice… take note, if you haven't already, and don't miss him if he comes to your city! It will be an unforgettable evening!
Finally, after these two sets, satisfying in themselves, with a feline step, we arrive at the Sound Jazz Café where a third set of Enrico Pieranunzi and Ada Montellanico is scheduled but, unfortunately (or fortunately), the show has already started an hour ago. We take our seats, I am enchanted watching the mythical Enrico Pieranunzi play whom I've been following for several years but, unfortunately, Ada Montellanico's singing bewilders me and, although she is very good, I can no longer bear it after the third song. The scat she improvises on the notes of "Mi sono innamorato di te" is particularly interesting but hers is not the type of voice I particularly prefer.
At the end of the concert, after applauding them vigorously nonetheless, my friends and I move away from the public park while from the recessed stage, the notes of the IS Jazz Ensemble still echo, and we head home, exhausted, after four and a half hours of continuous jazz, but immensely satisfied.
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