| Classique, Jazz |
Camera Lucida: David Occhipinti Takes His Art to the Cinema.
This is not, strictly speaking, a jazz album. Nor is it a conventional classical release. Instead, Canadian composer and guitarist David Occhipinti has crafted a body of work that inhabits the liminal space between chamber music, cinematic soundscapes, and improvisation. Camera Lucida unfolds less like a recital and more like a series of luminous vignettes, a soundtrack to a film that exists only in the listener’s imagination. One could argue that Occhipinti’s Dalí-esque imagination is reaching its full bloom here, as the album presents eight new compositions where the elegance of chamber writing intersects with the intimacy of solo guitar, performed by a roster of some of Canada’s finest musicians.
Occhipinti’s journey with Camera Ensemble began more than a decade ago. In 2012, he released his first recording under that banner, a project that immediately drew the admiration of his legendary mentor Jim Hall, who praised it as “an absolute jewel… his writing is unique, his playing totally original and breathtaking… a true work of art.” That debut included the Banff Suite, a work scored for guitar, clarinet, bassoon, marimba, violin, viola, cello, and bass, as well as a suite for guitar and string quartet. Even then, Occhipinti signaled that he was less interested in occupying a genre than in painting with sound.
That painterly sensibility pervades Camera Lucida. To approach the album is to see an artist layering tones and textures much like pigments on a canvas, building atmospheres before adding the final glaze that preserves them for posterity. What matters most here is the dialogue between the composer-performer and the music itself. Occhipinti inserts himself into the works with precision, sculpting silences, circling around phrases, offering responses that sometimes seem to provoke the ensemble, sometimes to answer it. At times the music feels as though the compositions themselves are in conversation with him; at others, his presence leads and reshapes the landscape. The effect is mesmerizing, a sequence of surprises that asks listeners to lean in, to anticipate the next turn. In doing so, Occhipinti positions himself above much of today’s output, not through virtuosity alone, but because his vision of art occasionally seems to outpace even the works that carry it.
The cast of collaborators reflects this ambition. Max Christie, a member of the National Ballet of Canada Orchestra, lends both clarinet and bass clarinet. Toronto Symphony Orchestra’s Fraser Jackson contributes bassoon on Octavia. Andy Ballantyne makes a guest appearance on piccolo in Promised Kiss. These choices inevitably invite a provocative question: is Occhipinti, consciously or not, composing for dance? Ballet has long been a fertile ground for Canadian creativity, often yielding work that diverges boldly from international norms. One could easily imagine these pieces set to movement on a stage, their fluid interplay between structure and improvisation mirroring the tension between choreography and freedom.
Ultimately, Camera Lucida is an album for lovers of art in its broadest sense. Whether you come from the world of jazz or classical music, you will encounter here a rare intellectual clarity and an artistic sincerity that are instantly compelling. It is a recording to be experienced slowly, to be absorbed with the same contemplative patience one brings to a painting or a film. Jim Hall’s words remain as relevant today as they were over a decade ago: “an absolute jewel… his writing is unique, his playing totally original and breathtaking… a true work of art.”
Thierry De Clemensat
Member at Jazz Journalists Association
USA correspondent for Paris-Move and ABS magazine
Editor in chief – Bayou Blue Radio, Bayou Blue News
PARIS-MOVE, August 27th 2025
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Camera Ensemble:
David Occhipinti – guitar
Michael Davidson – vibraphone and marimba
Dan Fortin – contrabass
Aline Homzy – violin
Virginia MacDonald – clarinet (Ice Dance)
Special Guests:
Max Christie – clarinet and bass clarinet
Fraser Jackson – bassoon (Octavia)
Andy Ballantyne – piccolo (Promised Kiss)
Track Listing :
Ice Dance
Song of Calypso
Southwark
Canticum Abasi
Promised Kiss
Playtime
Octaviaµ
Seurat Cha-Cha
All compositions by David Occhipinti
Ice Dance and Playtime are dedicated to Sofia Occhipinti
Thanks to: Beverley Johnston, Max Filazek, Alex Goodman, Daniela Lorenzi – A14 -Milan
Special thanks: Sofia Occhipinti, Mascia Manunza, and Fozzie
Recorded at Revolution Studios – Toronto, Canada, October 10, 11, 2023
Recording engineer: Luke Schindler
Assistant engineers: Matteo Peraccini, Christine Stoesser
Additional recording at Occdav studios June, 2024
Mixed by Occdav
Mastered by Sean Magee at Abbey Road Studios – London
Cover art etching by Mascia Manunza
Photography by Jen Squires
Design by Cristina Cannas and Susanna Ricci