| Jazz |
Here is a very beautiful album that comes to us from Italy. Last One is the work of bassist Edoardo Nordio, whom I discovered thanks to this album. It’s a form of jazz fusion that is very original due to its compositions, oscillating between jazz and funk with very Italian arrangements that give a special brightness to Last One. We certainly hope it won’t be the last from this musician. Here’s what Edoardo has to say about this album:
“In 2018, the album Fusion Steps by Edoardo Nordio was released under the AlfaMusic label, a work for which I had the pleasure of collaborating as a producer-musician. Edoardo and I share a deep friendship that saw us take our first musical steps together in high school and later play for a long time in various fusion groups. When, in 2018, the opportunity finally arose to create a studio album together, I willingly left my usual world of music applied to images to immerse myself in this challenge.
Building on the very flattering results of Fusion Steps, we wanted to maintain the same basic concept for this second work, made up of smooth jazz with funky and fusion nuances. We recalled the same top-tier musicians, with a few new additions and a guest star: the great guitarist Umberto Fiorentino, who had already honored us with his presence on the previous album. The collaboration in terms of writing has also been perfected: the pieces are now all co-written by Edoardo and me, except for the cover of Jeff Lorber and two pieces entirely penned by me.”
And this is evident when we particularly hear the saxophonist Gianni Vancini, who reminds us of the energy of the late David Sanborn, as well as the other particularly remarkable musicians. We don’t often get the chance to have this kind of album in our hands, and each time it fills us with joy, so let’s allow Edoardo to continue:
“It was essential for us to achieve an even more refined sound, with greater characterization of each piece. The almost obligatory choice was to carry out a more typical studio work involving research and experiments with preamps, D.I.s, microphones, and mixing on an analog SSL console with treatments almost entirely out of the box. The new additions of Max Rosati (solo guitar) and Giancarlo Capo (rhythm guitars), as well as Sergio Vitale and Enzo De Rosa for the brass section, also contributed to the realization of this ambitious project.”
This is precisely what attracts me to this album, a lovely risk-taking against the technological tide that feels good, giving a bit more roundness and naturalness that somehow makes this album sound like a “Live” performance. Edoardo, moreover, rightly thanks his label:
“In this more focused and at the same time time-consuming process, the contribution of the AlfaMusic label was fundamental both artistically and technically: Alessandro Guardia, in fact, co-founder of the label with Fabrizio Salvatore, also mixed eight of the ten tracks. Roberto Rosu completed the remaining mixes, wonderfully contributing to the characterization of the sound and the pieces that were our goal.”
We loved the compositions, performances, and mixing on this CD, which allows this album to be classified among our “Essentials.”
Thierry De Clemensat
USA correspondent – Paris-Move and ABS magazine
Editor in chief Bayou Blue Radio, Bayou Blue News
PARIS-MOVE, May 20th 2024
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