| Jazz |
When Jazz Refuses to Hurry
Lorenzo De Finti’s Backlash of Uncertainty and the Art of Listening Against the Clock
The first notes arrive quietly, almost cautiously, as if testing the room before committing themselves fully. Within seconds, however, it becomes clear that whatever expectations one might have brought along, about geography, genre, or even time itself, are about to be gently but firmly dismantled. If you were unaware that this friendly little country, one we might hope, for its own sake, will remain outside the European Union, was also fertile ground for jazz, Lorenzo De Finti will convince you otherwise almost immediately.
Often described by JazzWeek as drawing inspiration from Bill Evans, Keith Jarrett, or E.S.T., De Finti ultimately transcends such comparisons. His music stands on its own, shaped by a deeply personal vocabulary that betrays no hierarchy between classical music, jazz, and rock. This is not eclecticism for its own sake, but the natural expression of a composer fully attuned to the world around him, alert to its contradictions, porous to its influences, and unafraid to let them coexist.
Released last November, Backlash of Uncertainty reached us only recently, another victim of the increasingly erratic logistics between Europe and the United States. In an age when music is delivered instantaneously but often consumed just as quickly, the irony is hard to miss. Yet the delay feels oddly appropriate. This is not an album designed for immediacy or distraction. It demands time, patience, and repeat visits, and rewards them generously.
What strikes first is De Finti’s rare ability to build musical landscapes that are both intricate and accessible. His compositions unfold like scenes from an unwritten film, hovering somewhere between modern jazz and cinematic score. Complexity never becomes opacity. Instead, sound and silence interact in a careful choreography of shadow and light, tension and release. It took several listens to fully grasp the album’s inner architecture, its subtle use of space, and the way each piece quietly invites the listener to lean in a little closer.
Born in Switzerland and now based in Milan, De Finti seems perfectly at home in a kind of permanent in-betweenness. His melodic sensibility, lyrical but never sentimental, naturally privileges collective expression, giving his quartet room to breathe and converse. Over the past few years, the group has been in near-constant motion, performing across Europe and beyond, from intimate clubs to major festivals. Rather than listing destinations, it is perhaps more accurate to say that this is a band shaped by movement itself. That international presence has been formally recognized: De Finti was named Jazz Artist of the Year by Musica Jazz in both 2023 and 2024.
His earlier work already hinted at this expansive vision. Beyond the Desert (1999), featuring saxophonist Eric Marienthal and percussionist Alex Acuña, found a wide audience in the United States, Japan, and Northern Europe, establishing De Finti early on as a composer capable of speaking across borders without diluting his voice.
With Backlash of Uncertainty, that voice reaches new levels of nuance and depth. The album moves fluidly between moments of near weightlessness and passages of genuine gravity. “Nine Bridges in Königsberg” is a striking example, not only for its structural ambition but also for its luminous trumpet lines, delivered by Alberto Mandarini, an artist whose work was previously unfamiliar to me and whose presence here is nothing short of revelatory. De Finti’s writing is so idiosyncratic that tracing its precise origins feels almost beside the point. Perhaps, like many who live between cultures, by choice or by circumstance, he perceives the world with a sharper, more angular clarity. Such vision often belongs to those who have been traveling long enough to know that belonging is never singular.
Poetry may be the most immediately recognizable hallmark of De Finti’s music. His compositions feel like the convergence of multiple cultural grammars, distilled into a language that is entirely his own. One easily imagines him, wherever he happens to be, scribbling ideas into a small spiral notebook, melodic fragments, rhythmic notions, fleeting impressions caught before they evaporate. Is music, then, an adventure rather than a destination? Backlash of Uncertaintyseems to pose that question repeatedly, without ever insisting on a definitive answer.
Though the album contains only five tracks, it is emphatically not an EP. It is a complete work, conceived as such. In an era dominated by algorithms, playlists, and shrinking attention spans, De Finti makes a quietly radical choice: each piece stretches between eight and twelve minutes, unconcerned with radio formats or digital optimization. This is jazz that does not ask for your attention, it assumes it. Only music written with genuine conviction, with patience and heart, can afford such extravagance today.
In refusing to hurry, Backlash of Uncertainty reminds us of something increasingly rare: that listening itself can still be an act of presence, curiosity, and trust.
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, December 21st 2025
Follow PARIS-MOVE on X
::::::::::::::::::::::::
Musicians:
Lorenzo DeFinti – Piano
Stefano Dall’Ora – Bass
Alberto Mandarini – Trumpet & Flugelhorn
Marco Castiglioni – Drums
Track Listing :
1 BACKLASH OF UNCERTAINTY 8:10
2 THE OTHER ROUTE THAT WASN´T THERE 8:19
3 NINE BRIDGES IN KÖNIGSBERG 9:13
4 TEMPORARY SHUNT 8:35
5 OCCAM´S RAZOR 11:56
Total Time: 46:13
ll compositions by Lorenzo De Finti and Stefano Dall´Ora
Recorded February 28 – March 2, 2025 by Carlo Miori at Only Music Studio, Bruino, Torino, Italy
Mixed September 5 – 9, 2025 by Luca Xelius Martegani and Enrico Mangione at Nitön Lab Studio, Barasso, Italy
Mastered September 17 by Luca Xelius Martegani at Nitön lab Studio
Produced by Lorenzo De Finti and Stefano Dall´Ora
Executive producer Odd Gjelsnes
Cover photo by Geir Hareide Andersen
Band photo by Francesco Licata
Design by Max Franosch