
Nora (enja records)
Franco Ambrosetti
Released October 12, 2022
DownBeat Four-and-a-Half-Star Review
Jazziz Critics’ Picks 2022
YouTube:
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_lg4MTTbBLl-TKtKYDQyaNWLYS81zEVmXc
Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/intl-pt/album/5vmtw8Wf1sSb4UeWfXCuTv?si=zvPHOox7TAaga2tpYBKgVw
About:
Growing up in Lugano, Switzerland, the son of a
pioneering bebop alto saxophonist on the 1940s European jazz scene, a teenaged
Franco Ambrosetti came under the sway of his father’s heroes — Charlie Parker,
Dizzy Gillespie and Clifford Brown. They became his heroes too as the aspiring
trumpeter began emulating their blistering chops and visceral abandon. Now, at
age 80, Franco is following a different muse. After nearly 40 albums as a
leader, he has reached a point in his career where caressing each note is more
important to him than showcasing chops. “When you’re in your 20s, you want to
play as fast as you can and as high as you can, like Clifford,” he said. “But
somewhere after turning 50, then you concentrate on more important things and
you try to say something with just a few notes, but the right ones,
like Miles Davis did.”
Franco plays all the right notes in typically elegant fashion on Nora. Backed
by an all-world group of pianist Uri Caine, bassist Scott Colley and drummer
Peter Erskine, with a guest turn by guitarist John Scofield, plus
Grammy-winning pianist-arranger Alan Broadbent conducting a 22-piece string
orchestra, Ambrosetti plumbs the depth of emotion on this program of romantic
ballads, delivered with rare intimacy and grace. Possessing a golden tone on
flugelhorn, he ruminates and tells stories on each of these melodic gems.
Rather than emulating Bird’s ferocity on “Ornithology” or the intensity of
Clifford Brown’s “Cherokee,” Franco mines something more luxurious on Nora – a
spirit closer to Charlie Parker with Strings (Bird’s lush 1950 album on Mercury
Records) or Clifford Brown with Strings (his 1955 album on EmArcy).
Franco turned to Broadbent, whose empathetic approach proved perfect: “My
method is to have the orchestra involved in what I call a subsong, where the
ensemble is playing its own melody, lifting and expressing things in quiet counterpoint
with the lead song. This is an older style I’ve identified with since I was a
boy, influenced of course by Gordon Jenkins and Nelson Riddle. But my harmonic
approach to string writing is completely different from theirs, more
jazz-oriented. I like to think that I have found my own voice as an
arranger/composer. I believe this attracted Franco to me, like musical souls
finding each other.”
Track Listing:
1. Nora’s Theme 06:37
2. Morning Song 07:05
3. All Blues 07:48
4. Falling in Love 05:32
5. Autumn Leaves 05:54
6. Sweet Journey 06:37
7. It Happened Quitetly 06:03
8. After the Rain 08:23
Personnel:
Franco Ambrosetti: trumpet, flugelhorn
John Scofield: guitar
Uri Caine: piano
Scott Colley: bass
Peter Erskine: drums
Sara Caswell: violin
Alan Broadbent: arranger, conductor
Recorded February 14-17, 2022, at Sear Sound Studio, NY,
Recorded and Mixed by Jim Anderson
Assistant Enginnering and Mixing: Ulrike Schwarz, Dan Thompson
Review:
Producer Jeff Levenson has lined up all-star collaborators and a 22-piece orchestra to abet 80-year-old Franco Ambrosetti’s long-envisioned entry in the super-romantic jazz-withstrings subgenre, influenced by classic albums of Charlie Parker, Clifford Brown, Ben Webster, Stan Getz and Miles Davis. Nora earns a proud place among those, attaining distinction as an especially reflective, autumnal vision of beauty and connectedness. Throughout the entire low-light, hold-meclose program, the Swiss brass man applies limpid fluidity and mournful grace with enormous conviction to rich writing and exacting conducting by Alan Broadbent — who inspires the strings to swing and sway naturally on the waltz “All Blues,” and elsewhere hover like spirits or plumb deep blue depths. On “After the Rain,” gloriously, they do both at once. As for the jazz players: Scott Colley’s solid bass serves as their spine, connecting with Erskine’s thoughtful, uplifting, subtly propulsive drumming. Guitarist John Scofield shadows Ambrosetti on George Gruntz’s “Morning Song” then reconceives it; they’re reverente on Coltrane’s ballad, while sustaining their own sounds. Pianist Caine is complementary to dynamics and mood, at times adds drive, contrast and even touches of funk, modestly throughout. Ambrosetti’s long, unhurriedly floating lines, his aching upward reaches and rueful low confessions add up to a heroically conclusive statement, and it’s set in gold.
Howard Mandel (DownBeat)