Pino Daniele
Sciò

THE REVIEW

Listening to the pulsating drums of Tullio De Piscopo that introduce us to "Chillo è nu buono guaglione", the listener is faced with an immediate choice: to enjoy this masterpiece of the Neapolitan artist, respecting it in its entirety and giving up on contextualizing it with respect to his more recent production, thus giving up on the search for answers to the most challenging question of his (ex?) fans: why isn't Pino here anymore?

Perhaps due to the disbanding of the ensemble of Neapolitan talents that forged his best works? For natural creative and physical decline? ... who knows, everyone can form their own idea, however, without forgetting to thank "the man in blues" for those amazing years in which that mix of American slang, Neapolitan dialect combined with fantastic melodies brought him close to the greatest Neapolitan classics.

"Sciò" fully celebrates the golden period of his career, where this unique alchemy of sounds and influences produces a deadly live setlist where the pieces, revisited with different arrangements compared to the studio versions, truly live a new, extraordinary life. And thus "Viento 'e terra" creates formidable alternations between the horns of the Nocella/Torres duo and the Moog of Joe Amoruso, "Vivo come te" with a "voice" of an author like the sax of the late Bob Berg, exalts in its already overwhelming aesthetic beauty and "Tutta n'ata storia" with the funk bass bounces of Rino Zurzolo and the glassy sounds of Joe Amoruso, expresses an irresistible groove that drags the audience towards an enthusiastic final duet with Pino.

The guests on this record, an absolutely prestigious note, do not just make simple appearances but "play", involved in that wonderful "musical laboratory" formed by the Neapolitan clan of Amoruso, Zurzolo, De Piscopo, inspired architects of the Daniele-sound, transforming, for example, a raw "Chi tene 'o mare" into an intense and poignant ballad with the sax of Gato Barbieri. It may make you think of the anonymity of certain participations, like overpriced guest stars, such as George Benson or Chick Corea, that Pino's current rich production dispenses without, however, uplifting the fate of uninspired compositions. But this "Sciò" is not merely a showcase of talented guests, because everything is, in fact, functional to the vibrant and intense presence of Pino Daniele as a frontman: whether he is the hoarse blues man of "Tarumbò" or the calm and melancholic singer of his "Napul'è", who conducts the show is an artist in the fullness of his maturity and energy, also generous in his guitar performance.

In short, "Sciò" is an album to listen to in full, savoring the notes of class from its soloists, enjoying the magic of Mediterranean atmospheres suddenly whipped by a classy fusion and following the poetry of lyrics suspended between Naples and Marrakech, but without forgetting to forgive Pino for the fault, if it is a fault, of no longer being what he once was.