#Franco Ambrosetti

[dustedmagazine]

Dust Volume 10, Number 9

Photo of Aerial M by Tim Furnish

We’ve got a couple of Peel Sessions in this month’s batch, and it makes you think about how people can go on shaping the taste of millions, finding new bands, bringing up worthy underdogs for decades, and then stop. We come to rely on these people—John Peel for sure, but there are others—but they’re not here forever, and who will step up when they’re gone? Well, we’re not saying we’re John Peel, not by any stretch, but we’re still here at Dusted, still digging the obscure and overlooked, still operating in more or less a vacuum. We don’t make Dusted for the clicks or the acclaim and certainly not for the cash (there is none). We do it for each other. We do it for the bands. We do it for you.  

Anyway, we hope you enjoy this iteration of Dust. Jennifer Kelly, Christian Carey, Bill Meyer, Jonathan Shaw, Tim Clarke, Bryon Hayes, Ian Mathers, Andrew Forell and Jim Marks contributed.

Aerial M — The Peel Sessions (Drag City)

This three-song EP collects the output from Aerial M’s only Peel Session, recorded on March 3, 1998 (it was broadcast about a month later). Here in the interim between Slint and Papa M, David Pajo lays down an extended version of “Skrag Theme,” an alternate version of the single “Vivea,” and “Safeless” from the 1998 Vivea EP (which, very curiously, did not include a version of “Vivea”). Although Aerial M is largely considered a solo effort, Pajo was accompanied on this occasion by a crack Louisville post-hardcore ensemble: Tony Bailey, a veteran of more than 40 Kentucky underground bands, on drums; Cassie Marrett, who would later be known as Cassie Berman and a member of Silver Jews; and Tim Furnish of Parlour, Crain and the For Carnation. That band knocked Pajo’s Aerial M songs for a loop, pushing the woozy guitar tones of “Vivea” with a gut-checking drum beat and shading it subtly with either a keyboard or a melodica. Still moody, still layered with guitars, but subtly more physical, the track is the stand-out of the three. Likewise “Skrag Theme” fills out with a live band, its cerebral guitar lick anchored by the weight of drums and bass. “Safeless” spins out lyrically, meditatively, from a guitar line too chilled and thoughtful for rock, but not exactly jazz either. It’s all enough to make you wonder how things would have turned out if this band had kept at it, pushing at the boundaries of rock and noise and psych together.

Jennifer Kelly

Franco Ambrosetti — Sweet Caress (Enja)

Flugelhorn player Franco Ambrosetti brought together an all-star cast to record at Skywalker for his latest Enja release, Sweet Caress: pianist Alan Broadbent, guitarist John Scofield, bassist Scott Colley, and drummer Peter Erskine, with a generous string section alongside. Broadbent is also arranger and conductor. They dig into an estimable list of standards such as “Soul Eyes,” “Old Friends,” and Charlie Haden’s “Nightfall,” the latter of which sent me right to the piano to learn it. Ambrosetti has a rounded tone and enjoys adding fleet runs to his solos. His colleagues are equally fluent, and a solo violin introduction on the title tune underscores the album as a whole’s suavity.

Christian Carey

BassDrumBone — Afternoon (Auricle)

If you don’t know anything about BassDrumBone, after one look at the cover of Afternoon, with its image a many-ringed tree stump,you’ll have a pretty good idea of what they play, as well as the band’s collective sense of aging. And you’d be right, twice over. Mark Helias plays bass, Gerry Hemingway drums, and Ray Anderson is on trombone, and they recorded this album 46 years after they first got together. What you won’t know until you play it is how comfortable they are with each other, not as in “let’s kick and blow some old tunes,” but in the “I’ve got your back and I know you have mine, so let’s see what happens” sense. They alternate between written tunes that exploit the line-up’s potential for turning tight angles and improvisations that journey from eerie chamber abstraction to robust swing on a path pocked with aside-inducing holes in the road.

Bill Meyer

Black Mold — In the Dirt of Oblivion (Hellprod)

Grim, grotty blackened punk from somewhere in Portugal, released for your unpleasure on a shitty-sounding cassette. That sort of willfully outmoded packaging is the sort of thing that the hipster kids in the various undergrounds love to pieces — but the technical atavisms are unironically earned here. How else should we listen to a song called “Faint in Obscurity”? Turn that tune up loud and you’ll hear all the tasty, weirdo guitar tracks churning and distending under the mix’s buzzy, brittle surface. Is it frustrating that Black Mold seems to care about how their music strikes your battered, beleaguered earholes, and the indifference to anything resembling recording fidelity turns that care in on itself? Is that punk perversity? Kvlty authenticity? When the music is this raw and exciting, does it matter? In any case, the tape closes with a song called “Futile Purpose,” so fuck it, and fuck us all for giving a shit in the first place. Black Mold doesn’t.

Jonathan Shaw

Broadcast — Distant Call: Collected Demos 2000-2006 (Warp)

Following May’s 36-track Spell Blanket, a sprawling, varied and intermittently brilliant collection of Broadcast demos dating from 2006 to 2009, Distant Call is now the final release from Broadcast. It’s a much more succinct and consistent collection of songs, most of which are spare voice-and-guitar renditions of tracks that made their way onto Haha Sound, Tender Buttons and The Future Crayon, including essentials such as “Tears in the Typing Pool,” “Where Tears and Laughter Go” and “Pendulum.”To anyone familiar with the band, it’s not only striking to find that much of the character of these songs resides in Trish Keenan’s unique songwriting style and vocals, but also how much the full album arrangements and production contribute to their vivid realization. I can’t imagine wanting to hear any of these versions in preference to their album incarnations, but there are a couple of previously unreleased songs to sweeten the deal: “Come Back to Me” and “Please Call to Book.” The former’s sing-song melody over ripples of fingerpicked guitar is archetypal Broadcast, eerie and mesmerizing. The latter closes out the collection in a hushed, hesitant manner, with lovely harmonized vocals and a bright swell to the chorus: “When the sun shines inside the sun shines outside.” It’s a bittersweet send-off to one of the most beloved and influential bands of recent decades.

Tim Clarke

The Gabys — Self-Titled 7-inch (Fruits and Flowers)

The Gabys are from the U.K. but are sonically aligned with San Francisco’s bedroom pop scene. Stalwart Bay Area scenester Glenn Donaldson is a fan. His band The Reds, Pinks & Purples has covered “Molly” from the duo’s debut cassette, and he’s released two of their EPs on the Fruits & Flowers label he co-runs with Chris Berry. The Gabys’ music also runs parallel to the general sonic milieu of Paisley Shirt Records, another SF-based champion of fuzzy DIY sunshine. The duo pair the romantic and jangly edges of The Velvet Underground’s oeuvre with vocals eerily reminiscent of Young Marble Giants’ Alison Statton. Their home recording ethos lends their sound a hazy quality. On past releases, Matt and Natasha (the pair behind The Gabys name) have wrapped their harmony-filled song nuggets in clouds of lo-fi murk, but this latest EP polishes off their sound and reveals a quartet of brief and beautiful tunes. This additional clarity makes reveling in The Gabys’ jangly sound world even more rewarding, so hopefully the pair unveil more music soon.

Bryon Hayes

Christoph Gallio Roger Turner — You Can Blackmail Me Later (Ezz-thetics)

While the album name and certain of the track titles imply belligerence, this music steers clear of hostility. However, it’s perpetually tense and mercurial, with pungent horn phrases sharing space with featuring swift changes of attack. Swiss saxophonist (soprano, alto, c-melody) Christoph Gallio sounds exceptionally distilled, doling out pungent tones that gradually build in length and mobility. Englishman Roger Turner’s drumming is a master class in making each strike count and using shifts in volume to shape the music. The duo struck up an ultimately robust partnership when Gallio moved to London for a six-month sabbatical with the express intention of studying London’s improvised music scene. A single gig launched a sequence of private, recurring encounters, during which they hashed out the shared language heard here.

Bill Meyer

Gleaming Shard — Mirrors in Light Diamonds (Balance Point Acoustics)

Gleaming Shard is an improvising duo based in Chicago. Both of its members, prepared guitar player Da Wei Wang and percussionist Jerome Bryerton, have shared stages with musicians you might follow if you’re into that scene, but on Mirrors in Light Diamonds they clear a zone of their own. The instrumentation — mainly a couple guitars on a table and an array of gongs — has some precedent, and so does their sound. But connecting tools to output is a bit harder to do. The album’s six pieces sound like field recordings made at noon in a town comprising nothing but churches. Tom Verlaine once sang about walking around in the ring of a bell, but these guys have set up shop and spent so much time there that their postures have been molded to fit the furniture. It’s a marvelously engulfing racket.

Bill Meyer

hkmori — in search of a life worth living (self released)

How you feel about the work of enigmatic producer hkmori can probably be summed up by how you feel about the genre name “depressive breakcore.” Incomprehension and/or revulsion? Well, there’s plenty of music out there to check out instead. But if instead you’re intrigued by the idea of melding one type of sonic extremity to a different type of emotional extremity (kind of similar in spirit if not at all in sound to depressive black metal, actually), c’mon in. The four EPs hkmori has posted on Bandcamp in 2022 and 2023 are all strong examples of the form, and now their first 2024 release feels like it widens the scope just a little bit. Yes, you’ve still got songs like “tearsoaked pillows” hitting that sweet’n’sour spot, but on “What even is b@#$%core?” and “unrequited meaning” you start getting some new tones and timbres introduced (emotionally and sonically). Still not for everyone, but if you’re on this wavelength it’s another solid transmission.

Ian Mathers

Hubbub — abb abb abb (Relative Pitch)

abb abb abb, the fifth album by Hubbub, was recorded in 2019. This makes it an unofficial 20th anniversary observation by the French electro-acoustic improv unit, which comprises Fréderic Blondy, Bertrand Denzler, Jean-Luc Guionnet, Jean-Sébastien Mariage and Edward Perraud, released just in time for its 25th. Sometimes good things take time, and while the ensemble’s music is created in the instant of performance, it’s informed by a lot of history and takes its time manifesting. While its line-up (reeds, electric guitar, piano, percussion) and component personalities differ, there are aspects of 1990s AMM in the tension that Hubbub obtains from the tectonic friction of sonic layers. However, the music’s silence to event ratio is never so large, and the saxophonists stand ready to switch into close, prickly interaction, which combine to give the music an austere muscularity.

Bill Meyer

Hybrid — Movable Objects (Self-released)

Hybrid is New York tenor saxophonist Adam Larson’s trio with Chicago bassist Clark Sommers and Kansas City drummer John Kizilarmut. On Movable Objects they take a low key but sophisticated run through a 40-minute set of original material. As soloists they favor oblique melodic and rhythmic approaches to passionate intensity and technical fireworks and their interplay has a complexity and depth that reveals itself beneath placid surfaces. On “November to March” provides the template as the trio move from a simple opening motif into deft improvisation with deceptive ease. Sommers’ solo seems to slip sideways before you realize it, darting like a hummingbird from idea to idea. Kizilarmut makes fine use of his rims playing with a relaxed feel that seems to shrug at his inventiveness. Larson is likewise an agile presence, his tone sharp and he invests his runs with both emotional depth and satisfyingly unpredictable turns.

Andrew Forell

Isik Kural — Moon in Gemini (RVNG Intl.)

Isik Kural presents a different kind of expression than that of previous recordings on Moon in Gemini. Gentle lullabies and dulcet vocals provide a mood that transcends mere ambience into back to the womb sound bathing. “Almost a Ghost” is affecting, with hummed backing vocals, plucked acoustic guitar, synth harp, and field recording snippets supporting a laconic lead vocal. “Behind the Flowerpots” has dulcet upper register singing accompanied by scalar pitched percussion and a repeated chord progression in synth strings. The final track, “Most Beautiful Imaginary Dialogues,” quotes a Silvina Ocampo poem, convincingly summing up a warm outing that is compelling rather than cloying.

Christian Carey

LDL — In the Endless Wind (Wide Ear)

in the endless wind by LDL (Leimgruber - Demierre - Lehn)

LDL is soprano saxophonist Urs Leimgruber, (mostly prepared) pianist Jacques Demierre and analogue synthesizer player Thomas Lehn. Originally Barre Phillips held Demierre’s space, and for a time they were a quartet. Years of improvising together have resulted in a shared language that is simultaneously distinctly tripartite and irretrievably blurred; Lehn and Demierre can each run the other’s signals through their respective instruments, and Leimgruber’s high, lacerating shards of pitch come startlingly close to those of Lehn’s synth. Thus, the action often comes from sounds pixilating, flickering at the edge of silence, combining into dense blocks that are decayed around the edges, or snapping back into conventional voices. Their interactions mutate and reconfigure, inviting the listener to follow them on a trip that’s unfailingly alien but never gratuitously weird.

Bill Meyer

loscil // Lawrence English — Chroma (self released)

Colours of Air, last year’s debut full-length collaboration between loscil (Scott Morgan) and Lawrence English, did so much with its pipe organ source material that it’s not shocking that Morgan and English might take another kick at the can. If anything, the surprising part is that while Chroma is identifiably part of the same overall project, it does have a distinct identity, one even gentler and quieter than its predecessor. It also, in the form of “Vermillion,” has an example of how the duo’s live shows went, presenting a gorgeous excerpt from their set at the Vox Organi festival in Vancouver. Fittingly enough, “Vermillion” is the track across both LPs that most clearly sounds like a pipe organ (which was played live by both human and computer). The result is not quite as striking as its predecessor, but it’s hard to be upset with 32 more minutes of this particular good thing.

Ian Mathers

Love Child — Peel Session (12XU)

Peel Session by Love Child

Love Child’s Never Meant to Be is one of 2024’s best reissues, compiling both full-lengths, singles and radio appearances for these NYC-based purveyors of lo-fi post-punk. It’s a comprehensive survey of the band’s 1988-1993 run, but not exhaustive. This four-song EP adds two never-released songs to the catalog and reprises two from the main retrospective. All four come from a December 1992 Peel session that, sadly, never aired. They catch the band at a loosely slung, wildly energetic peak, months before they broke up for good.

The band, if you’re just checking in, featured Alan Licht on guitar, Rebecca Odes on bass and, by that point, Brendan O’Malley, who had replaced founder Will Baum on drums. Their version here of “Asking for It” is careening punk rock, with Rebecca Odes spattering the walls with indignant verses and Licht executing tight repeated squalls on guitar. If you think you’ve heard it before, you have. It was the lead-off track to Never Meant to Be. You might also be familiar with closer “Greedy,” with its seething guitar and candy-coated vocal (Odes again), and for the same reason. But two of these tracks are new to almost everyone, and they capture the band moving in a welcome but unfamiliar direction of droning psychedelia. “All Is Loneliness,” for instance, has approximately 0% of Love Child’s early brat-punk vibe, instead it flickers and builds and howls like an outtake from Bailter Space or, possibly, Bardo Pond. “Slow Me Down,” lurches forward on blasts of heavy metal guitar, tamping the riff down just enough to reveal the song’s indie post-rock heart. A guitar lick that reminds me, no kidding, of the Wrens, coincides with brutalist assault, and it might have been interesting to hear more of that if the band had stayed together a little longer. Oh well.

Jennifer Kelly

Mahti — Konsertti I (VHF)

Konsertti 1 by Mahti

Mahti is a Finnish instrumental quartet with ties to their compatriots Circle, but you wouldn’t know that by listening to them. There’s no heaviness and virtually no rock in their music. Electronic percussion percolates more than it propels, trading off the lead position with a clean-toned electric guitar like a couple of geese swapping a flock’s point position, and synths move volumes of sound like lassoed clouds. A fourth member plays kantele, a Finnish folk zither, but it tends to blend with the other instrumental voices rather than assert one of its own. The music was recorded live, but audience noise and room town are so absent that you might never know. To perky to be ambient, soothing but busy, this music feels familiarly krauty without ever adopting anyone else’s guise.

Bill Meyer

Mutated Void — Listen to the Struggle (Unlawful Assembly)

Listen To The Struggle by Mutated Void

Depending on your tolerance for feral, freaked-out skate punk, you might wish to paraphrase the title of this new tape from Mutated Void: Listening is the struggle. Others among us will be as happy with Listen to the Struggle as we have been with the Nova Scotia band’s previous output. Ugly, stoopid riffage; indifferently bashed percussive elements; harsh, hoarse croaks that have a vaguely humanoid quality — good times, galore. It’s the sound of several layers of skin being peeled off by sunbaked concrete; or maybe, given the Nova Scotia provenance of these noises, a rain-slicked quarter-pipe slowly falling to pieces. In any event, these tunes will scar you, or at least leave you with some nasty splinters. Cassette-closer “Zombie (Mecht Mensch)” is the main attraction. Like a moldy hunk of ambulatory undead flesh, the song really stinks, and it’s just wonderful.

Jonathan Shaw

Meshell Ndegeocello — No More Water: The Gospel of James Baldwin (Blue Note)

After records celebrating Nina Simone and Sun Ra, vocalist, bassist and songwriter Meshell Ndegeocello commemorates the centenary of author James Baldwin on No More Water. Staceyann Chin’s passionate readings and synthetically treated spoken word treated synthetically are interwoven with song structures. Vocalist Justin Hicks provides an often angst-laden delivery, and Josh Johnson adds saxophone and synths to the mix. Ndegeocello’s adroit bass-playing and low voice anchor the other disparate elements. The mood vacillates too, with elemental fury succeeded by exceeding tenderness. The album doesn’t reflect the music of Baldwin’s time, instead mixing R&B, funk, and electronica. This makes it no less potent an homage.

Christian Carey

Nidia & Valentina — Estradas (Latency)

Italian percussionist and multi-instrumentalist Valentina Magaletti and Afro-Portuguese beat-maker Nidia Borges combine forces to produce a set of rhythmic improvisations on their debut collaboration Estradas. Magaletti is best known as a member of London based dub trio Holy Tongue and here uses marimbas and found objects and synthesizers to complement Borges’ Angolan kuduro beats. Their music has the spatial feel of dub but concentrates on African polyrhythms and melodies. With elements of high life and gnawa thrown in, the duo concentrates on making you move as they explore their intersecting influences. The music itself is hugely enjoyable although at times find yourself wishing the songs were harder, faster, less polite. Minor quibbles about a collaboration that feels it has more to offer in the future.

Andrew Forell

Oliwood — Anatomy of Anarchy (Jazzwerkstatt)

Anatomy of Anarchy by Oliwood feat. Evans, Mahall, Landfermann

German drummer and composer Oliver Steidle is constantly searching for new means of musical expression. Each of his projects showcases a fierce resistance to standing still. Genres bleed together in joyous cacophony and each release boasts its own lineup of collaborators. Anatomy of Anarchy is tame in comparison to some of his other work, being firmly rooted in the jazz idiom. Yet it certainly moves quickly, drawing energy from a cadre of high-octane collaborators. Steidle works alongside experienced players from both sides of the Atlantic: trumpeter Peter Evans, clarinetist Rudi Mahall, and bassist Robert Ladfermann spar with him across this lengthy song cycle. Tracks such as “Freaks” and “Bling Bling Frogs” swing with a sense of unison among the team, while much of the other material strays far outside, exploring group improvisation territory. This crew are not afraid to wander, and Anatomy of Anarchy benefits from this adventurous approach.

Bryon Hayes

Ivo Perelman / Chad Fowler / Reggie Workman / Andrew Cyrille — Embracing the Unknown (Mahakala)

Embracing the Unknown by Ivo Perelman

There are plenty of prolific improvisers, but Brazil-born, NY-based tenor saxophonist has earned the right to have his face in the dictionary next to the word’s definition. Embracing the Unknown is one of eight albums released in 2024, each made with a different line-up. The quartet that made Embracing the Unknown is the largest, and it includes some heavy company — Mahakala proprietor Chad Fowler on stritch and saxello (a straight alto and curved soprano saxophone, respectively), and octogenarians Reggie Workman and Andrew Cyrille on bass and drums. Each has a hand in forming the music’s character. Fowler brings a bag of blues everywhere he goes, and while Perelman favors more abstract pathos, the music’s sentiments are darkly shaded; Workman contributes both propulsion and harmonic dimension; Cyrille’s short bursts of sound give the music a floating quality, articulating its progress without tethering to metrical time.

Bill Meyer

Laurence Pike — The Undreamt-of Centre (The Leaf Label)

Drummer Laurence Pike has been a name to watch for nearly two decades now, first in experimental jazz group Triosk, then in explosive synth-rock band PVT with his brother Richard, and more recently backing Angus Andrew in the latest iteration of Liars and as one-third of the drums, synth and sax trio Szun Waves. The Undreamt-of Centre is Pike’s fourth solo album, which arrives with an intriguing premise: what would a requiem sound like constructed out of drums, electronics, and choral voices? The results are often deeply arresting and affecting, especially the opening two pieces, “Introit” and “Orpheus in the Underworld,” in which the wordless vocal tones and swells of rhythm seem to carry an easily digestible internal narrative. The balance between the voices and drums seems to be key to the varying success of the pieces. The cantering beats of “Mountains of the Heart” don’t leave much space for the voices to steer the music, and the queasy ululations of “Universal Forces” are crying out to be ushered into form by the sparse, pattering drums. Thankfully the album’s longest piece, “Requiem Aeternam,” brings a sense of resolution with its sustained ambient tones, driving synth arpeggios, and washes of cymbals and toms.

Tim Clarke

Saccata Quartet — Septendecim (We Jazz)

Septendecim by Saccata Quartet

There’s an observable phenomenon in which the outernaut members of revered legacy rock acts will let their freak flag fly and get substantial audiences of folks wanting the parent band to show up and play a secret gig. Saccata Quartet (Nels Cline, guitar; Darin Gray, double bass; Chris Corsano and Glenn Kotche, drums) is just the sort of ensemble that could lure a Wilco fan out and then drive them back to the bar, grumbling and disappointed; Septendecim was even recorded at The Loft. Improv heads might come with their own set of expectations; this writer has distant memories of a multi-drummer concert at Chicago’s Hideout that involved Corsano trying to curl up inside a bass drum, and Gray and Corsano have played plenty of volcanic free jazz in the company of Mars Williams and Akira Sakata. But if you put aside expectations and put up your active-listening antennae, something else takes form here that is very good on its own terms. The quartet eschews rock gestures and gonzo energy that diffuses individual identities in favor of a more texturally derived intensity that is generally pretty quiet... until it’s not.

Bill Meyer

Shredded Sun — Wilding (Self-Released)

Wilding by Shredded Sun

Shredded Sun has been at it for a while now, first in the jangle-punk Fake Fictions and now four albums into their current iteration. A lifer vibe of the best sort, then, hovers over these punchy, vulnerable, pop-punk songs. They sound like reticent, literate Yo La Tengo crashing into the Pixies at a four-way stop. When bass player Sarah Ammerman sings, as on caroming “Shake the Clouds,” a warbly, Muffs-style enthusiasm bubbles over. When Nick Ammerman, the guitarist, takes over, a tremulous Feelies-into-Jonathan-Richman aura creeps in. The music pummels and jangles and struts no matter who’s in front, with excellent, energetic drumming from third member Ben Bilow. It’s excellent stuff, creative but crafted with care, occasionally humorous (see final track, “Another Song Called Mirror Ball,” but never silly. It’s what might happen if you just keep doing what you do regardless of whether anyone’s paying attention — you keep getting better and more yourself.

Jennifer Kelly

Luís Vicente Trio — Come Down Here (Clean Feed)

Come Down Here by Luís Vicente Trio

Back at its dawn, free jazz was supposed to change the world. The first changes were mainly technical — can we please untie this chordal straitjacket? — but it was soon aligned in the minds of both audience and practitioner with a broader array of personal and societal liberties. Half a century on, the music endures because in part because it gives musicians the freedom to interact in ways that are uniquely joyous and thrilling. Luís Vicente Trio taps into such opportunities. The themes that trumpeter Vicente brings are skeletal, but just enough to invite a collective act creation that pulses with momentum, expands and contracts like living architecture, and sings with palpable toughness and vulnerability. Sure, you can connect some of this music back to the music of Don Cherry and the Art Ensemble of Chicago on account of its expressive qualities. But within that formal framework, deeply personal shapes and interactions bloom like desert flowers, as vivid as they are time limited.

Bill Meyer

Woody Yang — apple red/dots (Mt. Hazey Records)

apple red//dots by woody yang

Woody Yang delivers a short but solid set of acoustic guitar originals in the Takoma school tradition. Switching between 12- and six-string, he doesn’t break any new ground, but there’s no reason he has to, and his take on the tradition is compelling. Yang certainly knows how to build these kinds of compositions. One of the tracks features his reedy vocals, and another features bongo accompaniment by the audio engineer, but the focus is on Yang’s deft fingerpicking. An auspicious debut.

Jim Marks

[jazzplusplus]

1965 - Comblain Jazz Festival

John Coltrane 4tet, Woody Herman et son grand orchestre, Nina Simone, Jimmy McGriff, ...

Albert Mangelsdorff, Franco Ambrosetti, Michel Roques, Jacques Thollot, Benoit Quersin, Félix Simtaine, ...

[bebopbeatniks]

via 21st Century Jazz Composers

Ron Cuber Quintet & Franco Ambrosetti - Jazz Cumbia - 1993 Franco Ambrosetti - flugelhorn Ronnie Cuber - baritone saxophone Antonio Faraò - piano Michael Formanek - bass Adam Nussbaum - drums DRS TV Studio, Zürich (Switzerland), 1993 #FrancoAmbrosetti #flugelhorn #baritonesaxophone #AntonioFaraò #pianoplayer #MichaelFormanek #bass #AdamNussbaum #drums #jazzlegend #jazzfest #jazzmusic #saxophoneplayer #trumpetplayer #RonnieCuber #JazzCumbia

[jazzanews]

Ronnie Cuber Quintet & Franco Ambrosetti - Jazz Cumbia - 1993 Franco Ambrosetti - flugelhorn Ronnie Cuber - baritone saxophone Antonio Faraò - piano Michael Formanek - bass Adam Nussbaum - drums DRS TV Studio, Zürich (Switzerland), 1993 #FrancoAmbrosetti #flugelhorn #baritonesaxophone #AntonioFaraò #pianoplayer #MichaelFormanek #bass #AdamNussbaum #drums #jazzlegend #jazzfest #jazzmusic #saxophoneplayer #trumpetplayer #RonnieCuber #JazzCumbia

[tmdnet]

Crac Siauto, Mario Silva verso il giudizio

Mentre l’azienda era PADOVA in liquidazione, Mario Silva, patron della Società Silva Au- tomobili, poi Autosi, avrebbe preferito pagare banche e so- cietà partecipate rispetto ad altri creditori privilegiati, tra cui lo Stato, che dal concessionario «avanzava» 1,2 milioni tra imposte dirette e indirette per le annate dal 201o al 2012. Bancarotta documentale è, quindi, l’accusa per cui il pm ha chiesto il processo per Silva. Il 6 dicembre la decisione del giudice.

Quando l’azienda era in liquidazione aveva preferito pagare banche e le partecipate con oltre due milioni di euro, anziché procedere al pagamento dei creditori privilegiati come lo Stato, che dall’azienda avanzava un milione e duecentomila euro di imposte dirette e indirette relative agli anni 2010, 2011 e 2012. E’ imputato con l’accusa di bancarotta Mario Silva (a sinistra nella foto), patron della Società Silva Automobili srl, poi divenuta Siauto con concessionaria in zona industriale, dichiarata fallita dal tribunale di Padova nel 2017. Ieri l’udienza preliminare in cui il giudice avrebbe dovuto esprimersi sul rinvio a giudizio chiesto dal pubblico ministero Luisa Rossi, che aveva coordinato le indagini, ma l’udienza è stata spostata al 6 dicembre prossimo.

Stando alle indagini e documentazioni portate alla luce dal curatore fallimentare, Patrizia Santonocito, l’imprenditore Mario Silva non avrebbe rispettato la «gerarchia» dei pagamenti imposta dalla legge fallimentare, dando la precedenza alla liquidazione di debiti nei confronti delle banche e di altre società partecipate. In particolare, in seguito alla vendita di un magazzino, operazione dalla quale sono stati ricavati 973 mila euro, il denaro incassato sarebbe dovuto andare al pagamento del debito nei confronti dello Stato, come pure il provento di un milione 114 mila euro, che sarebbe stato incassato dalla cessione del ramo di azienda alla Siauto, che avrebbe dovuto portare avanti la vendita delle automobili.

Ieri in aula Mario Silva, patron delle concessionarie d’auto che hanno reso famoso il suo nome negli ultimi trent’anni, e padre di Jacopo, ex consigliere comunale, ha ascoltato le dichiarazioni rese al giudice dalla curatrice fallimentare, la dottoressa Patrizia Santonocito, che ha ricostruito lo stato dei conti trovati quando aveva preso in mano le redini della società. L’avvocato dell’imputato, Enrico Mario Ambrosetti, ha tuttavia difeso le scelte imprenditoriali del patron delle concessionarie. L’abbandono del settore delle automobili, per la famiglia Silva, nel 2014 segnò il passo della crisi che aveva travolto il settore. In quel periodo molte concessionarie in zona industriale vennero chiuse, e i capannoni vuoti ora in affitto sono tutt’oggi testimonianza della difficoltà del settore a riguadagnare il mercato di un tempo.

Nicholas Franco

[shunkawakan-ita]

DAVIDE BUZZIfeat. FRANCO AMBROSETTI IL SINGOLO DI NATALE DELLO STRANO DUO “La LUPA”

"La LUPA” è il singolo di Natale del cantautore Davide Buzzi e del trombettista jazz Franco Ambrosetti,

con la partecipazione del cantautore Nativo Americano Jimmy Lee Young e del Coro Bambini Mesocco,

e un bellissimo video natalizio in animazione

GUARDA IL VIDEO

A partire dal 15 dicembre sarà disponibile su tutte le piattaforme “La LUPA”, il singolo di Natale della strana coppia artistica composta dal cantautore Davide Buzzi e dal trombettista jazz Franco Ambrosetti.La nuova proposta musicale di Davide, con Franco Ambrosetti che anche questa volta si propone con il suono struggente del suo flicorno, vede anche la partecipazione del Coro Bambini Mesocco, diretti dalla maestraRamona Plozza e della voce narrante del cantautore Nativo Americano Jimmy Lee Young. Scritta in origine da Davide Buzzi proprio per Jimmy Lee Young, la versione inglese di questa canzone nel 2012 aveva ricevuto due nomination per gli ISMA Awards di Milwaukee (Wisconsin/USA), nelle categorie "Canzone Pop dell'anno" e "Canzone Folk dell'anno" e nel 2013 si era aggiudicata una nomination per i NAMMY Awards di Niagara Falls (NY/USA), nella categoria "Canzone folk dell'anno".

A dieci anni di distanza dal suo esordio negli USA “LA LUPA” torna a casa, in occasione delle festività natalizie di questo anno difficile che finalmente sta per giungere al temine.

Il brano sarà disponibile a partire dalle 12.00 di venerdì 15 dicembre anche per lo scaricamento digitale, sulle piattaforme streaming e digital download al multilink: https://music.imusician.pro/a/nacqHfPV

Anche in questo caso il video de “LA LUPA” è un suggestivo  cartoon, realizzato dall’artista e videomaker milanese Davide Rotigliano. Attraverso gli splendidi disegni animati del video ci addentriamo fra la neve di una foresta invernale del Nord America dove, in una notte di tormenta, la giovane Nativa Americana Red Hawk con la sua piccola neonata finiscono per perdersi senza possibilità di scampo. Ma quando tutto sembra ormai dover portare alla morte di entrambe le protagoniste, ecco che una lupa sbuca dalla notte e porta in salvo la bimba, che da quel giorno verrà da lei allevata all’interno del suo branco. 

«LA LUPA è una storia di vita, di morte e di speranza. Una canzone che si inserisce in modo completamente inaspettato e quasi discordante nel contesto del Natale, che vuole far riflettere sull'asprezza della natura selvaggia e della vita in generale e nel contempo portare l’ascoltatore a cercare una risposta al mistero della vita, dove non tutto è nero e non tutto è bianco. La neve, che di solito nella visione natalizia è sinonimo di pace e gioia, in questo brano diventa l’antagonista avverso dal quale bisogna salvarsi, mentre il lupo, belva dal pelo scuro, selvaggio e pericoloso per antonomasia, si trasforma nella fonte di salvezza per una creatura indifesa e ormai destinata a soccombere. La simbologia del Natale rivive in tutta la sua grandezza in questo splendido brano e nel video che lo accompagna, richiamando a suo modo gli accadimenti che, secondo la tradizione cristiana, sarebbero accaduti quella notte d’inverno di 2023 anni fa a Betlemme. Anche in questo brano ho potuto godere della collaborazione di Franco Ambrosetti, uno dei più grandi trombettisti jazz viventi. A noi si sono pure aggiunti il Coro Bambini Mesocco, diretti dalla maestra Ramona Plozza, e il cantautore Nativo Americano Jimmy Lee Young (voce narrante della storia), che con grande gioia freschezza hanno impreziosito il tutto. Una ricetta perfetta che ha portato alla realizzazione di quest'opera davvero meravigliosa.»

“La LUPA” si caratterizza per un sound piuttosto Smooth country, malinconico e coinvolgente grazie all’interpretazione al flicorno diFranco Ambrosetti.

Il brano è stato prodotto artisticamente da Alex Cambise e registrato presso gli Astrea Digital Studios di Vigevano (PV), Zerodb Record di Assago (MI) e HRS – Heaven Recording Studio di Lugano (Svizzera). Testo e musica sono stati scritti da Davide Buzzi, con la collaborazione di Alex Cambise per la parte musicale e gli arrangiamenti.

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Davide Buzzi

Nominato agli ISMA Awards 2012 di Milwaukee (USA), e ai NAMMY Awards 2013 di Niagara Falls (USA)

Davide Buzzi, alle spalle una carriera ormai trentennale, è un artista che da sempre riesce a creare un innegabile connubio tra il cantautorato italiano e certe sonorità d’oltreoceano che ricordano molto da vicino l’heartland rock del Midwest americano. In questo caso Davide Buzzi ha però voluto cimentarsi con un brano dalle venature più vicine allo Smooth Country che al che al rock o al pop. Un’operazione brillantemente riuscita.

Buzzi inizia a scrivere e a musicare i suoi testi da giovanissimo e nel corso della lunga sua storia artistica si è confrontato anche con situazioni di una certa importanza, come le nomination del 2012 agli ISMA Awards di Milwaukee e ai Nammy Awards di Niagara Falls nel 2013. Nel 2017 e nel 2021 ha proposto i primi due volumi de La Trilogia, un importante progetto discografico che vuole ripercorrere la sua carriera attraverso sue canzoni inedite, scritte in periodi di tempo diversi, e la rivisitazione dei brani di alcuni cantautori italiani che in un modo o nell’altro hanno influito sul suo modo di scrivere. Interessante anche il ventaglio di ospiti che questo progetto ha riunito durante il suo percorso e che giungerà al termine nella primavera del 2024 con la pubblicazione del terzo volume, “Dispositivi di Segnalazione Acustica Individuale”.

A dicembre del 2023, con la collaborazione del trombettista di fama mondiale, Franco Ambrosetti, esce nelle radio e sulle piattaforme online il singolo “LA LUPA”, anteprima del nuovo album “Dispositivi di Segnalazione Acustica Individuale”, edito da PYRAMIDE e previsto per la primavera 2024.

www.davidebuzzi.com

www.facebook.com/davidebuzzi68

www.twitter.com/Davide1268

www.youtube.com/ponyrecord

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Franco Ambrosetti Vincitore dello Swiss Jazz Award 2018 e “gran signore dell'hard bop svizzero”

Franco Ambrosetti ha scritto la storia del jazz europeo

Più volte definito “il gran signore dell'hardbop svizzero”, il trombettista e flicornista ticinese Franco Ambrosetti ha scritto la storia del jazz europeo. Ha solo 20 anni quando, agli inizi degli anni 60, inizia a calcare da professionista le scene dei jazz club milanesi e dell'«Africana» a Zurigo, per poi aggiudicarsi il primo premio del Festival internazionale del jazz di Vienna nel 1966.

Nel corso della sua carriera ha suonato con i più grandi nomi del jazz internazionale. Tra questi, oltre a Dexter Gordon, Cannonball Adderley e Joe Henderson, vanno ricordati anche i colleghi svizzeri Daniel Humair e George Gruntz e maestri italiani del jazz come Dado Moroni.

La produzione musicale di Franco Ambrosetti è stata raccolta in numerose registrazioni e la sua ampia discografia comprende collaborazioni con altri famosi musicisti. Nella carriera di Ambrosetti la composizione ha sempre rivestito un ruolo importante e include anche alcune colonne sonore per film. Per più di 30 anni, Ambrosetti ha inoltre condotto una sua trasmissione radiofonica di musica jazz alla RSI (Radiotelevisione svizzera).

www.francoambrosetti.com

www.facebook.com/FrancoAmbrosettiOfficial

[bamboomusiclist]

12/10 おはようございます。Barbara Mason & The Futures / We Got Each Other - Make It Last BDA-481-N 等更新しました。

Al Jarreau / 1965 bt6237 Pepper Adams / Critics’ Choice pjm407 Lester Young / Blue Lester mg120 Hank Jones / Have You Met Hank Jones mg12084 Charlie Parker /Memorial Vol2 mg12009 Dizzy Gillespie / Ebullient mgv8328 Johnny Hodges / Don’t Sleep in the Subway v6-8726 Jerome Richardson / Groove Merchant V6-8729 Three Sounds / Blue Genes v6-8513 Wynton Kelly / Full View msp9004 Pete Jolly Trio And Friends / Little Bird as-22 Giorgio Gaslini / New Feelings Co64-18036 Franco Ambrosetti / Jazz a Confronto Hll101-11 Ronnie Mathews / Song for Leslie Vpa162 Hank Mobley / the Jazz Message of Mg12064 Frank Zappa / Sheik Yerbouti Cbs88339 Aretha Franklin / Rock Steady - Oh Me Oh My ATL1008 Al Greene & The Soul Mate's / Back Up Train - Don't Leave Me 15000 Blacklove / Get Down (When The Feelin' Hits Ya) SM00 Barbara Mason & The Futures / We Got Each Other - Make It Last BDA-481-N

~bamboo music~

info@bamboo-music.net  

530-0028 大阪市北区万歳町3-41 シロノビル104号

06-6363-2700

[delectablywaywardbeard-blog]

Cernobbio ascolta 12 ministri, Agenda Italia chiude il Forum

Forum Ambrosetti ai titoli di coda. Concentratissima l’ultima giornata che, come di consueto, è dedicata all’Italia.     Si parte con l’opposizione e gli interventi di Calenda, Conte e Schlein (solo in collegamento).     Poi una serie di panel con gli ex ministri Giovannini, Franco (candidato alla Bei), Brunetta (ora alla presidenza del Cnel) e i ministri Urso, Nordio, Piantedosi, Zangrillo,…

[sardies]

Al Teatro Verdi di Sassari al via Jazz Op

L’Orchestra Jazz della Sardegna suona musiche di Franco Ambrosetti, tromba e flicorno. Doppio concerto alle 11 e alle 19 (more…) “”

[sonicziggy]

"Nora's Theme" by Franco Ambrosetti, John Scofield https://ift.tt/gRkI7xn

[sgurumiyaji]

今日のディナーはまたお気に入りのピザです。いつものマルゲリータに今日はトマトとベイビーリーフのトッピング。オリーブオイルをたっぷりかけて出来上がり。旨いです。

焼いてる間に「Fabulous Phineas」を。彼のコンピング・マニアとしては弟カルヴィン(g)へのバッキングを聴いてみたい…と思って取り出したのですが、結局、ゴージャスでイカれてる彼のピアノ・ソロにばかり耳が行ってしまい…。B面1曲目は「ウェザーリポートが始まるのか⁈」と思ったら、テーマ以降はいつものファンキーな感じ。何気にどの曲もアレンジ凝ってます。あまり聴いてなかったアルバムですが、再評価しました。てか、彼のアルバムは全て良いのですが。

ピザが焼き上がってからは、イタリアンなジャズをと思い「Wings」Franco Ambrosettiを…と聴きながら、この人の事調べたらスイス人でしたw ユメールもスイス人なのでアメリカ・スイスの混成バンドとなります。ま、スイスはチーズ美味いからいいか（笑）

アンブロゼッティ、めっちゃ上手いです。このレコードはブレッカー目当てで買ったのですが、今や聴きどころが完全に変わってます。アンブロゼッティに注目！

ブレッカーの聴き方も以前とは変わってしまい、お決まりフレーズには全く興味無く、寧ろ、全然違うキーのⅡ-Ⅴ的なフレーズを吹いてる所とか自由な所に耳が行きます。以前トレースした事が有りますが、半音上のキーを平気で吹いて見事に着地したりしてます。ブレッカーの魅力はそういう自由な所に実は有って、フレーズをパクってそのキーで当て嵌めるのでは、ブレッカーを理解した事にはならないと思っています。そういう観点から、コピーを辞め自分のフレーズでそういう実験をする様になったのですが、今、久々にブレッカーを聴くと何となく理解が進んだ気がします。

メンバー全員、めちゃくちゃ素晴らしいのでこのアルバムオススメです。

いやぁ、自宅ジャズバー、めっちゃ楽しいです。ほんと言うと、生活さえ出来れば僕は聴き専で良いのですが…w

[jazzanews]

Ron Cuber Quintet & Franco Ambrosetti - Jazz Cumbia - 1993 Franco Ambrosetti - flugelhorn Ronnie Cuber - baritone saxophone Antonio Faraò - piano Michael Formanek - bass Adam Nussbaum - drums DRS TV Studio, Zürich (Switzerland), 1993 #FrancoAmbrosetti #flugelhorn #baritonesaxophone #AntonioFaraò #pianoplayer #MichaelFormanek #bass #AdamNussbaum #drums #jazzlegend #jazzfest #jazzmusic #saxophoneplayer #trumpetplayer #RonnieCuber #JazzCumbia

[jazzviewswithcjshearn]

Franco Ambrosetti Quintet:  Long Waves (Unit Records, 2019)

Franco Ambrosetti: flugelhorn; John Scofield: guitar; Uri Caine: piano; Scott Colley: bass; Jack DeJohnette: drums.

Swiss flugelhornist Franco Ambrosetti has been the doyen of the Switzerland jazz scene for decades.  He comes from a strong family lineage including saxophonists Flavio and Gianluca that truly put the Switzerland jazz scene on the map in the mid to late 50's and early 60's.  They lead a quartet with pianist George Gruntz and drummer Daniel Humair that eventually converged in the 70's to form one of Europe's most important and longest lasting big bands, the George Gruntz Concert Jazz Band.  Over the ensuing years, Ambrosetti lead a number of sterling ensembles, and the quintet that graces his latest recording Long Waves, the term all star is an understatement.  The quintet features the dynamic crew of John Scofield on guitar, pianist Uri Caine, bassist Scott Colley and drummer Jack DeJohnette all musicians who have worked with Ambrosetti in the past and with each in various configurations.

All star dates are sometimes underwhelming when the final result is delivered. In jazz's  illustrious history there have been numerous all star affairs that have looked tantalizing on paper, but have failed to deliver in the musical department.  In the heyday of major label jazz albums in the 80's and 90's many of the albums were all star conglomerations instead of working bands, some like The New Standard (Verve, 1995) by Herbie Hancock (with Scofield and DeJohnette in tow) worked beautifully while others didn't.  Long Waves is fortunately one of the dates that works very very well, and is in part due to the fact all of them had previously worked in Ambrosetti in the past.  Scofield, and DeJohnette go all the way back to the guitarist's Grace Under Pressure (Blue Note, 1989) and more recently the two had superlative hook ups on the cooperative Trio Beyond's Saudades (ECM, 2006) and Hudson (Motema, 2017) and their rapport is evident on the five Ambrosetti originals and two standards.  Uri Caine last worked with the flugelhornist in 2007 on The Wind and Colley's bass is new to the fray.  

Ambrosetti's graceful tango “Milonga” finds his flugelhorn gliding over DeJohnette's busy, but never intrusive alluring beat, and Scofield is marvelous with his signature rhythmic choppiness.  The flugelhornist's dark tone prances and darts inside of DeJohnette's heavy swinging, and the drummer's turn is of interest as he plays phrase variations around his ride cymbal pattern and pulse.  As Keith Jarrett reflected in his notes to the Standards Trio's My Foolish Heart: Live at Montreux (ECM, 2006) “Jack bustles through the music, creating whirlwinds and traffic jams from which he re-emerges (as do we) unscathed and somehow better for it” and that's exactly what DeJohnette does here, creating whirlwinds and traffic jams for the soloists, that are completely in reaction to what's going on around him and always in service to the music.  Caine really digs in on the tune thanks to DeJohnette's strong prismatic cymbal, and the drummer is especially effective on “One For The Kids” which juxtaposes a down and dirty New Orleans second line groove with swing on the bridge.  On “Silli's Long Wave” which has a driving modal “A” section with changes on the “B” section, Scofield really goes for it, and the flugelhornist have thrilling interplay towards the close. Ambrosetti really let's his tone sing on “Old Folks”, and plays with fluid assurance on the closing “On Green Dolphin Street”.

Sound

Recorded by Jim Anderson, Long Waves is nothing less than superb.  Anderson has been one of the best engineers for a long time having recorded a slew of audiophile classics such as Angel Eyes (Verve, 1996) by Jimmy Smith. His cleanly recorded stamp is here, Ambrosetti's horn is full and very present, down to hearing the spit in the horn occassionally.  The guitar tone is sweetly overdriven with just enough grit, reverb in the center left of sound stage. DeJohnette's cymbals are lush, and drums are captured in all their resonant glory, the sound of his extremely resonant, ringing toms is especially noticeable on “Try Again” and Greg Calbi's mastering is appropriately dynamic, the music has breathing room.

Closing Thoughts

Long Waves is an enjoyable journey from 5, brilliant, seasoned musicians.  At age 70, Ambrosetti sounds absolutely tremendous, delivering a batch of memorable, singable tunes for blowing that have a lot of sustenance underneath.  The complimentary rhythm section enables him to toss of a bevy of stimulating ideas, that reward repeated listenings.   His golden tone and imagination assures his place in jazz history is set, and with outings like these, they are impossible to not like.

Music Rating: 10/10

Sound Rating: 9.5/10

[projazznet]

Franco Ambrosetti – Nora

Charlie Parker did it, Clifford Brown did it, and now he has done it: the grand seigneur of Swiss jazz Franco Ambrosetti has recorded an album with strings. The 80-year-old invited his trusted All Star Band and a 22-piece string ensemble to New York's Sear Sound Studio in February of this year, not to create a gently embraced work of old age, but rather to offer his highly cultivated tone and characteristic art of phrasing in special arrangements a new stage that exhibits the essence of his éducation musicale. For this project, Franco is joined by a superlative cast: Alan Broadbent, John Scofield, Peter Erskine, Scott Colley, Uri Caine and 22 strings.

[abr]

il sopracciglio alzato di Mariopio sbirciando l’elenco dei ministri che, armati di scorta e segretari, si sono scapicollati all’inutile Forum Ambrosetti, in quel di Cernobbio (vi ricordate  la kermesse di Davos? Internet ha reso il summit svizzero obsoleto come le cabine telefoniche. Non ci va più nessuno. Al punto che l’apertura di Cernobbio è stata affidata a un messaggio “commerciale” di Putin che ha innescato polemiche e critiche. (...) Detto questo, al di là di un soleggiato weekend sul lago di Como, che cazzo avevano da riferire di tanto importante ben 14 membri del governo - Di Maio, Colao, Bonetti, Cingolani, Cartabia, Gelmini, Lamorgese, Bianchi, Messa, Brunetta, Giovannini, Orlando, Giorgetti, Franco - si è domandato stamattina Draghi? Risposta: una benedettissima mazza. Una superflua passerella per ricevere salamelecchi e ossequi dai capi delle varie partecipate di Stato e dai lobbisti in calore. L’unico ministro, diciamo così, ‘’autorizzato’’ da Draghi era il numero uno del Tesoro, Daniele “Alexa” Franco, che aveva l’incarico di chiudere la kermesse del Forum Ambrosetti.

https://www.dagospia.com/rubrica-3/politica/cernobbio-passerella-vanita-ldquo-comunicare-solo-quando-281920.htm

[riffsstrides]

Franco Ambrosetti

Cheers

Enja, 2015

Franco Ambosetti: flugelhorn; Kenny Barron: piano; Buster Williams: bass; Jack DeJohnette: drums; John Scofield: guitar; Randy Brecker: trumpet; Greg Osby: alto saxophone; Gianluca Ambrosetti: soprano saxophone; Antonio Faraò: piano; Uri Caine: piano; Dado Moroni: piano; Terri Lyne Carrington: drums.

Milestone birthdays deserve major events. And so we have Franco Ambrosetti's Cheers, a star-studded seventy-fifth birthday celebration that's both a walk down memory lane with friends and a stroll over different terrain for the man of the moment. In January of 2017, just over a month after Ambrosetti's actual birthday, the septuagenarian starring man found himself at the center of a musical party in his honor at Brooklyn's Systems Two Studios. There, surrounded by most impressive company, he wielded his flugelhorn and traced his way through a collection of songs with the fluid grace that's come to characterize his work on a series of celebrated dates stretching back nearly four decades on the ENJA imprint. Joining forces with a set of familiar faces—A-listers that have appeared on record and/or on stages with this Italian horn heavy over the years—Ambrosetti delivers a program that's neither mired in nostalgia nor taken by fashion's fickle outlook. An intelligent mix of recalibrated standards and originals suited to this setting makes for a beautiful listen with plenty of peaks and no valleys to speak of. An "Autumn Leaves" bolstered by Buster Williams' sly and springy riffs, driven by Jack DeJohnette's cymbals, built around Uri Caine's pianistic chassis, and given over to Ambrosetti's modal moodiness, augurs well for this album. It hints at Miles Davis in its demeanor, but it's pure Ambrosetti in its accent. The eight tracks that follow don't disappoint or disprove that initial feeling of positive energy given over through "Autumn Leaves." Ambrosetti's daydreaming horn is all class working atop the gilded trio of Williams, DeJohnette, and pianist Kenny Barron on "I'm Glad There Is You"; original "Drums Corrida" makes history, teaming DeJohnette and his one-time protégé, the masterful Terri Lyne Carrington, in a spicy-turned-roiling scene; "The Smart Went Crazy," putting guitarist John Scofield and alto saxophonist Greg Osby in the sunny spotlight, references Ambrosetti's long association with the song's composer—Swiss pianist George Gruntz; and a matte-finish take on Joey Calderazzo's "Midnight Voyage" nods to Michael Brecker while bringing aboard the dearly departed saxophone icon's famous brother, trumpeter Randy Brecker. Whether waxing nostalgic on a ballad, flying high on a swinging foundation, or simply stepping out of the way to let his friends shine, Ambrosetti proves the model of assurance here. Time has clearly taught and treated him well.

DAN BILAWSKY  in All About Jazz