Jazz

There are debut albums that announce themselves loudly, and then there are debut albums like this one, that arrive quietly, lean, close, and ask you to do what the title tells you, to “listen at something closely”.

Look at Something Closely lives up to its title, offering a strikingly intimate chamber jazz sound with spacious playing, allowing one to hear with delight all the subtle exchanges between the four instruments. It’s a record that offers intimacy, patience and emotions, which rewards the listener with revelations or surprises that follow one another, like light that infiltrates, expands and then illuminates every corner of your space. The result is striking, both in its ambition and in its execution.

Blankrooms is a collective project born from a simple gesture: Ivan Valentini reopened the case of his tenor saxophone after years away from structured composition, and from there a new sound world took shape. Ivan explains: “My tenor sax case had been shut for years — alto and soprano were my main horns. Then one day I opened it up, dusted off the tube, and started practicing it pretty regularly, to the point where I felt like launching a project where I could actually play it.”

Alongside him are Andrea Cappi on piano, Alessio Bruno on double bass, and Francesco Mascolo on drums, together creating a balance made of deep listening and constant exchange. Look at Something Closely is their debut album, five tracks spread across a concise 30-minute runtime, five original compositions, three by Ivan and two by Andrea (the first and last track of the opus).

Built around a classic quartet format (tenor sax, piano, bass, and drums) the album embraces a chamber-jazz aesthetic where space is as important as sound. The interplay between Ivan Valentini and Andrea Cappi is central: their compositions balance two distinct voices, merging lyrical restraint with subtle harmonic sophistication. There is no excess here, no room to hide behind arrangement or production. Every note carries weight, every silence matters.

The album’s origins are worth noting. The original idea was to arrange standards and covers, but along the way the project changed direction. As Valentini explains: “The original idea was to arrange standards and covers, but then Andrea and I started writing, and Blankrooms took shape — a blend of two very different compositional approaches that, in my opinion, balance, integrate, and complement each other really well.”

That complementarity is palpable throughout: Valentini’s compositions (tracks 2, 3 and 4) tend toward a more visceral, tension-driven language, while Cappi’s (tracks 1 and 5) frame the whole with a more architectural, harmonically suspended sensibility. Together, they create a genuine dialogue rather than a stylistic merger.

The recording, mixed and mastered by Simone Coen at The Groundfloor Studio in Modena, privileges a natural and close-miked rendering, designed to capture every detail, a production choice that amplifies the very concept of the disc: to listen up close, to perceive every nuance. The result is a sound that feels almost three-dimensional, each instrument occupying its own clearly defined space in the acoustic field.

Look at Something Closely is a debut album that establishes Blankrooms as a genuine quartet in contemporary Italian jazz, a chamber jazz that is intimate and cinematic, where silence weighs as much as sound. The result is a work that feels carefully crafted yet never self-important, an album that offers genuine pleasure to the listener, and one imagines, reflects the same sense of fulfilment experienced by the musicians who brought it to life. In a contemporary jazz landscape often marked by loud technical brilliance, Blankrooms offers something rarer: emotional clarity without simplification.

Look at something closely isn’t just an album. It’s a statement, a fully formed work that asks the listener to reflect, not just hear. Nothing happens by accident, and honestly, comparing it to something else just doesn’t fit. Others may follow, but truthfully, it won’t be easy.

Frankie Pfeiffer
Editor in chief – PARIS-MOVE

PARIS-MOVE, May 3rd, 2026

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To buy the album

Musicians:
Ivan Valentini: tenor sax
Andrea Cappi: piano
Alessio Bruno: double bass
Francesco Mascolo: drums

Tracklisting:

1. Merge 06:03
2. Dark Desire 05:31
3. Next Life 04:58
4. She Moves On 06:51
5. Nap On A Cloud 07:01

All music written by Andrea Cappi (tracks 1 and 5) and Ivan Valentini (tracks 2, 3 and 4)
Cover artwork by Emanuele Sartori
Graphic design by Rosaria Valentini