Rossana Casale
Incoerente Jazz

A good fifteen years before Norah Jones, the jazz/pop combination had already been attempted, but without reaching the top of the charts. The author of this endeavor was not the usual ethnic-sounding girl but an Italian singer, blonde and petite, with a voice as thin as it is enchanting. Rossana Casale released this album in the winter of 1989, participating in the Sanremo festival with "A che servono gli dei", a song with a strongly jazz arrangement. A couple of singles made "Incoerente Jazz" a discographically acceptable result, followed by a period inspired by world music ("Lo Stato Naturale", 1991, and "Alba Argentina", 1993).

"Incoerente Jazz" is a very particular album; the introspection that characterizes the lyrics is truly unusual for Italian music and generally hard to find in the pop scene. Existential themes and metaphysical references merge with deep reflections on human nature and feelings, reaching unusual poetic levels. The songs are imbued with that melancholic intensity that is the trademark of jazz, although pop-folk moments are not absent, such as "Racconto della Fine del Giorno" (the least jazz-like track and the most lively thanks to the particular presence of the double bass) and the cheerful rhythm of the metaphysical "L'Infinito del Cielo", which takes us to pop territories (it was the second single released from the album).

The ballad for strings and piano "Un Cuore Semplice" is splendid, whose deliberately off-key ending seems to announce that the best is yet to come. Indeed, it starts with the pure jazz triptych of "A che servono gli Dei", "Salgari", and "Peace", the only track in English on the album. Casale's voice soars over refined and sophisticated melodies, creating in the listener a sense of presence in mysterious and evocative landscapes. All this without overwhelming the accompaniment with excessive virtuosity that in this case would be useless (and which nowadays are instead so fashionable). Noteworthy is also the track that gives the album its title, a Latin jazz piece for piano, double bass, and clarinet, and the pearl "Dall'Altra Parte del Fiume", another evocative ballad that marks with a shiver down the spine the highest point of this emotional journey.

An album to (re)discover, the first true foray into jazz by a talented vocalist who unfortunately is lately known mostly for having reinterpreted songs by past authors. A must-have if you like jazz sounds in light music.