| Jazz |
After their debut Lowlands, two years ago, the duo VARV continues its journey with Transit, an exciting work which demonstrates VARV’s duo’s commitment to exploring different musical genres, and which lies at the heart of their project.
There are few formats more exposed, more demanding, or more unforgiving than the keyboard–drums duo. Remove the bass, and the keyboard player suddenly becomes responsible for the entire harmonic architecture of the music. Remove the melodic frontline instruments, and rhythm, texture, atmosphere, and interaction must carry the full emotional weight of the performance. There is nowhere to hide, no supporting cast, no safety net. Every note matters, every silence is crucial, every gesture becomes significant.
Yet when such a format succeeds, the results can be breathtakingly beautiful.
With Transit, the Italian duo VARV demonstrates precisely why the keyboard-and-drums partnership remains one of the most fascinating possibilities in modern jazz, progressive music, and free improvisation. Across the six beautifully crafted tracks, keyboardist Andrea Cappi and drummer Francesco Mascolo create a musical world of remarkable depth, colour, and imagination, proving that two musicians can generate an astonishingly complete sonic universe.
From the opening moments of the album, one is struck by the quality of the dialogue. This is not a situation where one musician leads while the other accompanies. Nor is it a showcase for individual virtuosity. Instead, Transit is built upon a form of musical equality, where each player listens as attentively as he performs, constantly shaping and reshaping the music in response to the other musician.
Andrea Cappi proves himself a master of timbre and atmosphere. His keyboard work moves effortlessly between lyrical passages, impressionistic textures, progressive-rock grandeur, minimalist repetition, and exploratory harmonic landscapes. At times his playing suggests the architectural sophistication of contemporary jazz; at others it evokes the cinematic sweep of progressive rock or the abstract beauty of electronic music as played by Jean Michel Jarre, Patrick Morraz or Kraftwerk.
Francesco Mascolo is far more than a drummer in the conventional sense. Throughout Transit, he acts simultaneously as a colourist and rhythmic architect. His drumming is endlessly inventive, capable of explosive energy one moment and exquisite subtlety the next. Rather than simply marking time, he continuously shapes the emotional trajectory of the music.
The album’s six compositions unfold like six interconnected journeys through constantly shifting landscapes. Atmospheres emerge, dissolve, and reappear in transformed forms. Rhythmic tensions generate melodic possibilities. Harmonic structures become textures. Colours blend and collide.
Listening to Transit feels like wandering through a surrealist painting. Indeed, the music frequently recalls the dreamlike logic of Salvador Dalí: unexpected images coexist naturally, contrasting elements provoke one another, and seemingly unrelated musical ideas merge into coherent and fascinating new forms. Throughout the album, the listener encounters moments of beauty, mystery, tension, serenity, often within the same piece.
One of the album’s greatest achievements lies in its extraordinary variety. Each track possesses its own distinct character while contributing to a unified artistic vision. Yet regardless of mood or tempo, the music remains consistently engaging thanks to the duo’s remarkable ability to balance structure and spontaneity.
The interaction between Cappi and Mascolo is particularly impressive because neither musician ever attempts to dominate the musical conversation. There are no ego-driven displays, no unnecessary demonstrations of technical prowess. Instead, there is a constant search for balance, dialogue, and collective expression. The music breathes naturally because it is built upon trust.
In this respect, VARV belongs to a distinguished lineage of adventurous duos.
Listeners familiar with the celebrated collaborations of Patrick Moraz and Bill Bruford will recognize a similar commitment to interaction and rhythmic sophistication. Like Moraz and Bruford, Cappi and Mascolo transform the absence of a bass player into an opportunity for greater freedom and creativity. Yet Transit often feels more atmospheric and less overtly virtuosic, emphasizing sonic exploration as much as technical brilliance.
Comparisons can also be drawn with the work of Giovanni Di Domenico and Mathieu Calleja, particularly in the way both duos treat music as a process of collective discovery rather than individual expression. In both cases, texture and listening become as important as melody and rhythm.
The more adventurous passages may even remind some listeners of the legendary encounters between Max Roach and Cecil Taylor. While VARV operates within a more contemporary and often more melodic framework, the same spirit of fearless dialogue and mutual challenge can be heard throughout the album. Like Roach and Taylor, Cappi and Mascolo understand that true musical conversation requires risk.
With only keyboards and drums at their disposal, Andrea Cappi and Francesco Mascolo create music of remarkable richness, complexity, and beauty. The result is an album that rewards repeated listening. Each return reveals new details, new connections, and new perspectives. More importantly, it reveals the extraordinary artistic partnership at the heart of VARV.
Transit is not simply an album of keyboard and drums. It is a demonstration of what can happen when two musicians listen so closely that their individual voices become part of a single, constantly evolving musical imagination.
Frankie Pfeiffer
Editor in chief – PARIS-MOVE
PARIS-MOVE, June 21st, 2026
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Musicians :
Andrea Cappi: keyboards
Francesco Mascolo: drums
Tracklisting :
- Bright 06:32
- Wormhole 06:04
- Place to digress 06:20
- Vice 06:14
- Arkose 03:57
- Drifters’ deal 03:36