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Alabastro Euforico — Alabastro Euforico
(Materiali Sonori MASOCD 80158, 2011, CD)

by Peter Thelen, Published 2013-04-01

Alabastro Euforico Cover art The kingpin here is bassist Arlo Bigazzi, who has a number of releases to his credit over the years. Here he has assembled a number of musicians he has worked with in the past: woodwind player Vittorio Catalano, percussionist Marzio del Testa were important enough to get equal billing on the cover, along with Quaretto Euphoria (string quartet). This one goes all over the map: jazz, world, folk, classical, rock and klezmer themes are explored in a very progressive way, fusing various ideas and musical idioms in this instrumental stew, sometimes all at the same time. One will find the fourteen tracks here represent a journey, evocative and expressive, going well beyond the limitations of any one of the genres that are represented in this patchwork of ideas. About half of the tracks are original compositions, with the rest being adaptations (tracks by Penguin Café, Durutti Column, Wim Mertens and others are rearranged here), every piece melded into a unique vision that doesn't comply with the expectations of any singular style. One might be reminded of artists like Oregon, later Embryo, or Paul Winter Consort at times, perhaps because of the instrumentation mix in play, but the strong folk and rock persuasions within tend to take this well beyond those comparisons. This is one of those albums that has you scratching your head in wonder the first time through, but just keeps getting better with each listen.

Filed under: New releases, Issue 40, 2011 releases

Related artist(s): Alabastro Euforico

More info
http://www.materialisonori.com

 

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