HI heres one of the great charlie parker tributes , by one of the pioneers of the italian avant guard, a founding member of the pioneering quartetto 'free jazz ' di roma , and one of the great interpreters of, berio, nono, and scelsi's music for solo tuba, and trombone.
this was released on penta flowers in 1994 and according to various scources including their current catalog, is out of print.
for me this is up there with george lewises hommage to charles parker on black saint.
thoughtful,and palpably joyous freebop, though also very ecclectic
passages of non idiomatic free improv
and italian folk influenced bop tunes.
heres a bio from all music ,followed by a review of the album( a bland one by steven loewry)
Biography by Francesco Martinelli
Born in Rome, where he still lives, trombonist Giancarlo Schiaffini graduated with a degree in Physics, but left scientific research for music. He's been a key figure in both Italian new music and the European improvised music scenes, playing with Evan Parker, Maarten Altena, Barry Guy, and recording with Andrea Centazzo and Lol Coxhill (Situations, New Tone, 2000), among others. Self-taught on the instrument, Schiaffini studied and earned degrees at Darmstadt, operating in the academic avant-garde realm with the improvising group Nuova Consonanza, and playing solo compositions by Berio and Scelsi. He's also the designated soloist for Luigi Nono's Prometheus, and is a conservatory teacher. On the more experimental side of his work, Schiaffini makes creative use of electronics, as documented on Edula (Pentaphon) and The Missing Chainring (Imprint, 2001), as well as in his textbook on contemporary trombone techniques. Yet Schiaffini does not renounce his jazz roots, which is equally evident in his improvisations, in his teaching activities for the Siena Jazz Courses, as well as in his original tributes to the music of Charlie Parker and Thelonious Monk, As a Bird and About Monk (Pentaflowers). The SIC Trio, with percussionist Iannaccone and saxophonist Eugenio Colombo, recorded several LPs in the '70s and a live CD at the 1994 Controindicazioni Festival in Rome (Passemmezzo, Splasc(h), 1996). With Dubs (ART-PURecords), Schiaffini introduced strings, Silvia Schiavoni's voice, and the traditional Iranian percussion of Mohsen Kasirossafar; while a meeting with the Peter Fraize Trio led to the invigorating free bop of Deconstruction! recorded live in Washington (Pentaflowers, 2001) with tunes by Monk and Ellington, and originals inspired by the music of Cuba, where he taught. Co-founder of the Instabile Orchestra, Schiaffini writes articulate, witty suites for the band, like Litania Sibilante (Enja, 2001).
Review by Steve Loewy
A classic of avant-garde Italian jazz, As a Bird uses the life and work of Charlie Parker as inspiration and diving board to produce a splendid set of eleven tracks. Trombonist Schiaffini, one of the seminal figures of the Italian free scene, wrote all the compositions, and is joined by an all-star crew. His work on trombone is characteristically rough and wild, incorporating a range of influences from Dixie to hardcore bop to 1960s freedom. Alto saxophonist Sandro Satta splendidly takes off where Bird left us, with some adventurous skydiving, and Alberto Mandarini reaches into his Don Cherry derby for some amazing gymnastics. Schiaffini's humor abounds; the Spanish titles result from the leader's recent visit to Cuba. The CD successfully captures the spirit of Bird without copying him or fawning his style.
VISIT SCHIAFFINI'S WEBSITE HERE
AND BY HIS RECORDS, THERE ARE SOME AVAILABLE ON SPLASCH, A ND GOOD ONES UNDER MARIO SCHIANOS NAME ON ATAVISTIC, AND SPLASCH
ALSO CHECK OUT THE ITALIAN INSTABILE ORCHESTRA RECORDS ON ENJA, AND LEO
enjoy!!
for some reason im having trouble paragraphing this post, sometimes it works some times not
a bug in bloggers programing?