Schiano/Mazzon/Schiaffini/Geremia/Tommaso/Rusconi – The Unrepentant Ones - Fonit Cetra CDP 005 (Italy)

Translated from the liner notes in italian

“The Unrepetant Ones began just for fun since I was talkin’ by phone with Guido (Mazzon)” (Mario Schiano).

After 17 years of parallel and crossed journeys in the world of jazz, largely documented by encyclopedias, reviews and "less or more" specialized handbooks (from 1966 Gruppo Romano Free Jazz to 1969 Gruppo Contemporaneo) they meet all togheter for the first time in Rome in an Italian Radio Studio (RAI) for a Live Concert as guests of A certain speech broadcast series. “I’ve found myself with people who express their feelings in such a particular way, so similar to my way of talking, to my thoughts. They always make me feel comfortable” (Renato Geremia). “I want to express my strong excitement since today, here, just after 20 years, perhaps something is going to happen. This Unrepetant Ones are fine musicians, and show very promising, they show they can be even better musicians and play genuine music” (Franco Pecori). Free jazz, Free Music “..in Europe musicians 45/50 years old go on playin’ this rather distinctive music, rather creative, quite free. I noticed that they aren’t so frustrated as we are” (Guido Mazzon). “I want to remind you that jazz music, in about 90 years of life, has covered the whole itinerary of the great western music, reaching even the Darmstad School. The Free Jazz, greatly berated, is the most advanced peak of the evolution of this music history. Before Free Jazz is nothing!!!” (Mario Schiano)
“All that is solid melts into air”. That’s the reason why, in this recording made by this musicians for whom (since the ’60) the reference points are totally relative, they can use historical jazz shapes for their own musical ends. From the most classical blues in L’arte in questione, to the most contemporary one, the tense and biting free jazz of Feel better, running up and down through musical quotations, moods, fashions to personal and collective models of any jazz musician.
From the unfielding practicisizin' of the “Innovative selfdistrucion” of jazz shapes (Mobil Oil advertisement dating to 1978) grows out the awareness (sometimes ironical Antenne Justine, others lirycal Tout Doucement A Marghera, sometimes serious Virtù Appassite, others realistic Ich Mag F. M., others of fantasy) that this is the only way trough which we can feed true individual musical meanings. In those sound and music meanings the individual creative freedom is the condition for the creative freedom for the whole group.
Finally Armi e Bagagli is for all those who dream of a music that can “sign the time, that isn’t all day long seated in a museum, that comes to the surface, that is fluid, unpredictable, erratic, contradictory, stressful. A music who can help old ladies to cross the road” (Claes Oldenburg)

Pasquale Santoli

To the above, almost ruffled, liner notes I only want to add a brief annotation.
For this important Italian musicians the opportunity to meet, perhaps for the first time, at an almost official date as a Radio Broadcast/Concert/Album can be seen today as a seminal and starting point for the birth of that “marvellous dream became true” called Italian Instabile Orchestra.
Not only this date has been important among the others (before and after) along the eighties: the founding from Andrea Centazzo of the Mitteleuropa orchestra (in 1980), the Bruno Tommaso tentet for “Dodici variazioni su un tema di Jerome Kern”, and than the scoring for the Rava’s “Carmen”, and then the DOM orchestra and the Gaslini’s Solar Big Band.
Other recordings that document the meetings between jazzmen from the same “creative” area that were later to join the Instabile are: Mazzon/Schiano – Gospel, Schiaffini/Iannaccone/Colombo - Pezzo e Altro Pezzo, Schiano/Bellatalla/Liguori – Concerto della Statale.
In the eighties: Italian Art Quartet (Rusconi, Mazzon, Geremia, Tommaso) Discretamente il fascino…, Liguori/Schiano/Liguori/Mazzon – Effetti Larsen …and obviously the one posted here.

Discographycal infos

Mario Schiano alto sax, voice (in # 1-5);
Guido Mazzon trumpet (except # 8), clarinetì (in # 6), piano (in # 7);
Giancarlo Schiaffini trombone (in # 2-4-5- 7), tuba (in #1-2-3-4-6-8-9);
Renato Geremia soprano sax (in # 2-7), tenor sax (in # 4), piano (in #5),
violin (in # 2-3-6-8), flute (in # 9), voice (in # 1);
Bruno Tommaso bass (except # 8);
Toni Rusconi drums (except # 8), percussion (in # 2-6)

Recording made in Rome sala M - Centro di Produzione Radiofonico RAI in 1986 february the 17th during the Radio Broadcast named “Un certo discorso” ( A certain speech)

Published in. 1986 - Fonit Cetra IJC 005 (LP) - Italia , 1990 - Fonit Cetra CDP 005 – Italia

1. Antenne Justine 2:48
2. Feel better 8:26
3. Tout doucement a' Marghera 2:00
4. Lottuso (softwar) 4:12
5. L'arte in questione 4:53
6. Virtu' appassite 4:24
7. Ich mag F.M. 4:04
8. Skies off 1:03
9. Armi e bagagli 3:56

All the compositions are collective improvisations

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