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Rating: After the star of Charlie Parker had fallen to earth, Bird's contemporaries and the following generations had only two choices: follow in his footsteps or seek fortune elsewhere by treading different paths. Many alto saxophonists of those years had to necessarily confront this rather cumbersome benchmark, and few emerged shining with their own light; I immediately think of Cannonball, McLean, Art Pepper.
An alto saxophonist who managed to affirm his own sound and language, yet without being able to reap the rewards of visibility, was certainly Sonny Criss from Memphis, class of 1927. Some critics, wrongly in my humble opinion, continued to place Criss amongst the crowded ranks of Parker's imitators; statements that will find no confirmation because there will be a chance to hear Criss grappling with one of Bird's signature pieces, that "Lover Man" so significant in the context of Parker's career and which will be for our Criss the litmus test to express himself with a different approach from Charlie's.
But let's go in order: it is February 1974, and as Greek pianist George Arvanitas says in the liner notes, his trio and Sonny Criss are invited by the "Centro Culturale dell'Emilia" for a series of concerts in one of Italy's regions historically most akin to Jazz. It is not known in which place the concert recorded on the evening of January 28th took place, as various sources only indicate Bologna without specifying the physical location where Criss and the others performed. The evening starts with "Tin Tin Deo," a spectacular Latin-flavored classic written by Gil Fuller with Chano Pozo, a classic popularized by Dizzy Gillespie and for which, evidently, Criss also had a weakness, so much so that he decided to include it in his album "Saturday Morning," recorded the year following "Live in Italy." "Tin Tin Deo" is the mysterious and exotic breath hidden among its textures, a breath that Criss, Arvanitas, and the others manage to capture perfectly, despite the tempo of the piece being slightly accelerated compared to other historical versions, which might lead one to think of a loss of sinuosity, an element that instead remains unchanged. "Tin Tin Deo" is certainly one of the best moments of the record, a state of grace that sets the stage for the already-mentioned "Lover Man," another unmissable moment to better understand the beauty of Criss's phrasing, phrasing with its own dignity that certainly does not need to invoke Bird. Also, "Summertime," a standard that needs no introduction and with which Parker himself had engaged in a famous version with strings, leads one to hear the total distinctness of Criss's style from Parker's, in a very captivating, swinging and engaged version, as can be heard from the time marked by the hands of the audience during part of Arvanitas's piano solo. Along the way, Criss & company will delight with other gems, such as the famous "Sunny" with a very funky mood; or in "Sonny's Blues," a flirtatious blues as per tradition with Criss himself in the authorial role.
In conclusion, a very, very delightful album, not easy to find but not extremely difficult either, and which nonetheless presents some flaws from a "technical" point of view, specifically the abrupt sound changes in the recording; something that additionally fails to undermine the undisputed quality shown especially by Sonny Criss, this excellent alto saxophonist who left this world a few years later due to a suicide dictated by the desperation of a tumor that had by then consumed him. Buy it, because it is an outstanding testament to excellent obscure Jazz recorded in our country. Album 3.5 for the recording, but I gladly round up to 4, as the setlist and performances are very enticing.
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