Axes (We Insist! Records)
Andrea Grossi Blend 3 + Jim Black
Released May 17, 2024
All About Jazz Best Jazz Albums of 2024
YouTube:
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_n-jzs-GIjyujZY1pzr–n-LRZkqdmrrOY
Spotify:
About:
Axes and layers, but also the axes, for striking and cutting. This work embraces the muscular energy of avant-jazz and delicate and dreamlike introspection. The musical references are to the America of Tim Berne and the Europe of Marc Ducret – the polyphony and rhythmic pulse of the urban environment. But the connections, even if not strictly musical, reach far; “Axis: Bold as Love” by Jimi Hendrix and “AlasNoAxis”, Jim Black’s debut album. More than one axis: axes.
Track Listing:
1-4. Axes:
I. Game 05.33
II. Interlude 06.57
III. Riddle 05.36
IV. Coda 02.12
5. Dark Bloom 09.54
6. BadAxes 03.47
7. Pedinte / BadAxes (reprise) 08.49
Personnel:
Manuel Caliumi: alto sax, bass clarinet
Michele Bonifati: electric guitar
Andrea Grossi: double bass, Bb clarinet, electric bass, albanian lahuta
Jim Black: drums, percussions
Recorded, mixed and mastered by Simone Coen at Turangalîla Recording, Cernusco Lombardone (LC), Italy, on November 13th and 14th 2023.
Cover and liner notes by Maria Borghi
Graphic design by Maria Borghi
Photos by Gianni Grossi and Alessandro Zambianchi
Produced by WE INSIST! ets, 2024
Review:
When Sonny Rollins recorded “A Night At The Village Vanguard” (Blue Note, 1957) and later toured Europe in 1959, he was frequently asked about performing without a pianist. His saxophone, bass, and drums lineup was unconventional at the time, but it gave him the added freedom to explore his creative powers. Similarly, bassist Andrea Grossi’s trio, Blend 3, which includes alto saxophonist Manuel Caliumi and electric guitarist Michele Bonifati, has taken a similar approach. On their previous releases Lцbok (We Insist!, 2019) and Songs And Poems (We Insist!, 2022), the trio recorded without a drummer and, much like Rollins, without a pianist as well.
All that changes with the addition of American artist Jim Black. Axes adds his drums but loses none of its originality and inventiveness. We can speculate that Grossi chose Black based on the drummer’s work in dozens of contexts, especially with saxophonist Tim Berne’s seminal band Bloodcount and his own quartet, Alasnoaxis. Black does not just keep the beat; he can paint landscapes with every minute detail included.
The album Axes starts off with a four-part suite, beginning with “Game,” a math-rock rhythmic piece which packs a punch. This is followed by “Interlude,” which is a hypnotic exploration of the outer edges of each musician’s instrument. The final two movements, “Riddle” and “Coda,” present a modern quartet performance with a tight counterpoint. Caliumi’s biting alto matches Black’s pulse, chased by both Bonifati’s guitar and Grossi’s bass. “Dark Bloom” is a tribute to the fight against fascism, built upon a dream sequence with what sounds like prisoner boxcars slowly transporting the persecuted. The album concludes with “BadAxes” and “Pedante/BadAxes (Reprise),” which opens with Black’s solo before Caliumi’s bass clarinet ushers in Grossi and Bonifati performing their unique chamber jazz, all elevated by a guest drummer.
Mark Corroto (All About Jazz)
