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It is the debut CD of this young saxophonist from Salerno, in which she decided to pay homage to Coltrane the way a guitarist would pay homage to Wes or a trumpetist would pay homage to Chet...Doing this at the beginning of one's career is quite risky, but if this tribute is paid naturally and sincerely, one can understand other sides of the musician's personality emerging from Coltrane's influence.
The beginning is devoted to the composition-tribute by Carla Marciano. Coltrane is in Trane's
Groove as Carla Marciano herself is. It is a modal piece in which Marciano playing
the sopranino saxophone reflects the way of thinking of the famous saxophonist
from North Carolina and with confident and straight away awareness she executes
excellent passages, succeeding in climbing to the highest peaks of harmony. She
is also supported by the typical accompaniment based on progressions of 4ths
executed by Alessandro La Corte, by fluid drums and a double bass positioned on
the odd movements and slightly in advance, that is typical of the modal pace so
dear to Coltrane.
In As Usual
, another piece by Carla Marciano, you can hear Dario Deidda introducing the theme with his trumpet in unison with the saxophone, a bit like Trane and Miles used to do. It is a very fluid piece, with a nice double bass solo by Aldo Vigorito and an inflamed finale executed by the alto saxophone still
on a modal background. The same passion is found in the introduction of the
beautiful Prisoner of Love . Carla Marciano executes some phrasing in order to play later on a few
notes of the unmistakable theme of this memorable ballad in the version by
Lester Young together with Teddy Wilson. The theme introduction is anyway a very good staccato and the dynamic control of the saxophone is perfect, remarkable most of all at the end of each phrase. After the double bass solo by Deidda, the time is doubled in the piano and saxophone solos. At the end Marciano answers with a typical solo performance of hers, looking for an expression in symbiosis with her instrument.
A three minute excellent double bass execution
introduces the swing sound of Easy To
Love played with the piano. It has been a good idea to leave both the saxophone and the drums playing alone for eight bars, alternating with the double bass.
John Coltrane was born in Hamlet, in North Carolina, and the piece by
Deidda pays a homage exactly to this town, laying out the sound on a level similar to Trane's Groove, but this time executed by the alto saxophone.
It was February 3rd 1959 when in Sutherland Lounge, a nightclub in Chicago, Miles Davis quintet made up of Cannonball Adderley at the alto saxophone, John Coltrane at the tenor, Wynton
Kelly at the piano, Paul Chambers at the double bass and Jimmy Cobb at the drums, with no leader, recorded
a live session including an elegant Stars Fell on
Alabama . The ballad proposed here again does not refer to that version, but it reminds of its atmosphere in the nice and relaxing execution with a finale performed again by the saxophone solo played by Carla Marciano.
The East was an element starting to be more and more
present in Coltrane. India's Mood is a piece by Alessandro La Corte departing a bit from the plans, as it adopts some electronic percussion instruments and selected sounds, like that of the sitar. It is not bad, even though it can probably turn out to be out of context.
The CD ends with an improvisation by Carla Marciano playing the alto saxophone together with the drums only,
maybe recorded unawares, but of assured effect and entitled Bye Bye Trane.
It is one hour of good music with high
peaks gained, in my opinion, in the ballads and in some points of the pieces by
Marciano
. The sound is often "stretched" to emphasize both the stylistic and character's aspects, such as the rage, passion, impetuosity and frenzy used to show the music one has got inside himself, and that Carla Marciano shows to have, supported by a remarkable technique.
Marco Losavio for Jazzitalia
p.s. the pictures by Carla Marciano enclosed in the book are really beautiful!
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Data ultima modifica: 15/01/2005
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