Following such visionary
projects as 2015's evocative KOI, 2017's powerhouse prog-rock outing Elevator
Man and 2018's Twinscapes II: A Modern Approach to the Dance Floor (with fellow
bassist Colin Edwin), Italian bassist-producer-arranger and RareNoise recording
artist Lorenzo Feliciati joins forces with fellow countryman, master drummer
Michele Rabbia, on Antikythera. Named for an ancient Greek mechanism that was
used to predict astronomical positions and eclipses for calendar and
astrological purposes, Feliciati's seventh recording as a leader for RareNoise
traverses a myriad of moods, from graceful and haunting soundscapes to dramatic
crescendos to intimate piano trio pieces, while showcasing his remarkable
facility on fretted and fretless basses, keyboards, electric guitar and
samples. Special guests on Antikythera include trumpeter and RareNoise
recording artist Cuong Vu, saxophonist Andy Sheppard, Italian pianists Rita
Marcotulli and Alessandro Gwis and Feliciati's Naked Truth and Mumpbeak
bandmate, keyboardist Roy Powell.
Says Felicati of his partner Rabbia, whose delicate touch
and coloristic approach to the kit have graced various ECM and CAM Jazz albums
and underscores this interactive session: "Michele and I met several years
ago and immediately felt that our chemistry was something special and that
ideas were abundant. To make an album out of them was an easy decision to make.
Antikythera is out first collaboration, one stemming from great human and
musical interaction."
The result of several joint studio sessions spread out over
two years, Antikythera pieces together recorded improvisations and soundscapes
that eventually, after an intensive process of post-production, overdubs and
editing, were integrated into an organic-sounding whole. "In the studio we
were always in recording mode," said Feliciati, "so every little idea
that came out from this mutual listening and response/interaction process
became eventually available to me to work on during post-production, sometimes
as a complete composition, sometimes as the improvised starting point for a new
construction."
Feliciati explained his notion for the theme of Antikythera:
"My idea was to think of the music we were improvising as a complex
machine but that was working in a perfect, fluid way. Only after I started
post-production work on the studio improvisations did I learn about an ancient
Greek machine that was found in the ocean near the Antikythera island. I
immediately thought it would be a perfect way to convey the idea of the music
we were pursuing: a machine coming from the past (I think that improvisation is
an ancient human art that changes through the centuries but will always be with
us) made of a lot of different parts and gears (like all the musicians that are
part of the final result) and able to read the present and predict the future,
able to look at the unknown and find useful things in it. And after all, isn't
this what art is supposed to do?"
He added, "I think Antikythera can be viewed and
experienced as a psychedelic album of sorts, as it does possess the qualities
of a trip."
The opener, "Irregular Orbit," introduces a
captivating theme that might serve as incidental music for a documentary on the
story of the ancient Antikythera. Says the composer, "The idea was to
create some sort of opening theme with a mysterious first part, like the dawn
before a battle or a start of an eclipse in the sky. And then arrives all the
dissonance we have now in our lives and on the planet. And the Antikythera
machine is there to study, read and report all this."
"223 Teeth" makes great use of Andy Sheppard's
soprano sax against at pedaling ostinato before pianist Marcotulli introduces
some dizzying arpeggios that suggest the grinding gears of this ancient
mechanism. "The idea of a machine that starts with all the gears (from the
little ones to the big ones) starting to move together was clear from the start
of the improvisation when Michele started the 'clock' sound generator he keeps
among his percussions. So the pieces goes through the same motions we went
through while recording, then when working on post- production and editing:
slowly at first but then progressively faster and faster and faster."
"Corrosion" is a haunting soundscape that
showcases Rabbia's coloristic cymbals playing and percussive approach to the
kit. Said Feliciati, "Michele is a master in using the cymbals in a very
creative way. There are always so many cymbals and interesting percussions and
sound generating artifacts around him when he plays."
"Prochronistic" opens with Feliciati's foreboding
ostinato on bass guitar before Cuong Vu enters with some very lyrical,
warm-toned trumpet playing. As Feliciati explained, "Cuong sent me some
tracks of him improvising on the pre-existing track that I had sent him. And
then I edited them to the result you hear. He is the ultimate creator of
melodies. His sense of melody and counterpoint is so good it never ceases to
surprise me, even after all the music we did together."
Vu also blows with typical authority and melodic brilliance
over a soundscape that Feliciati created for "Sidereal." As the
bassist explained about his modus operandi on this tune and throughout
Antikythera: "All you hear from Cuong is the result of him reacting to the
music. The tracks I sent the guests to work on were never finished, because I
then added new elements that came to me from listening to their contributions
and responses. The guests sent me several takes of their
responses/improvisations. Depending on the material, I sometimes brought parts
from different takes together to achieve a greater sense of organicity."
"Perigree" is a beautiful showcase for Alessandro
Gwis' delicate touch on piano. "We know each other from way back,"
said Feliciati of the Rome native. "We played on hundreds of different
releases as session musicians and he has been part of my music and solo albums
since Frequent Flyer(the bassist's 2012 debut on RareNoise Records).Before that
he was the pianist of my Wasabi trio featuring me on upright bass. Alessandro
is a beautiful soul and a great friend of mine. He is such a pure genius on the
piano. His use of additional electronics is unique and adds a lot of poetry to
the music."
"Apogee" features Feliciati's Naked Truth and
Mumpbeak bandmate Roy Powell on organ, Mini-Moog and Fender Rhodes. "It's
a reference to the music from the '70s that I know both me and Roy love,"
said the bassist. "For this song I imagined some sort of a crazy
psychedelic church ceremony and thought Roy could be a perfect master of ceremony
for that."
The closer, "Parapegma," is a graceful number with
a kind of gentle tango feel to it that features some plaintive tenor sax work
from Sheppard. "We tracked the trio of Michele, Rita and myself in her
studio in the countryside of Rome for two days in an atmosphere of great
amusement and relaxation," explained Feliciati. "What you hear is
what we created together in her studio, apart from Andy's contribution, which
was added on later. Strangely enough, the working title was 'Country' because we
were working in the countryside. We thought it was the perfect music to chill
out and end the trip, to stop and look out at the stars through the Anykithera
machine."
Feliciati's latest is a beautifully expansive aural trip
that showcases his profound sound alchemy in the studio along with the
exceptional talents of his gifted inner circle. Another triumphant undertaking
for the bassist-composer-producer, Anykithera was released in October on RareNoiseRecords.
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