| Jazz |
Luca Mannutza, “Circles”: The Geometry of Emotion
From its opening notes, Circles, the new album by Italian pianist and composer Luca Mannutza, feels like a quiet revelation, the kind of record that doesn’t shout for attention but holds it effortlessly. Released on A.MA Records, the label known for its unerring sense of artistry and production elegance, the album reflects a musical world where lyricism, structure, and introspection coexist in perfect equilibrium.
Mannutza has long been considered one of the defining voices of Italian jazz. Over the past two decades, he has shared stages with Paolo Fresu, Emanuele Cisi, Maurizio Giammarco, Bobo Ferra, and Roberto Gatto, building a reputation that bridges tradition and modernity. His path has been decorated with major awards, from the Onnio Porrino Prize and Barga Jazz Special Mention to the Massimo Urbani International Award and the Audience Prize at Avignon’s Trampolin Jazz Competition. In 2002, his performance at the Martial Solal International Competition in Paris confirmed his stature among Europe’s most compelling jazz pianists.
That same year marked a series of important collaborations: Mannutza joined Gatto’s various ensembles, recorded with Fabrizio Bosso, and contributed to the Blue Note release by the High Five Quintet in 2007. His elegant touch also shaped Mario Biondi’s best-selling Handful of Soul (Schema, 2006), a project that brought jazz phrasing into the realm of soul and pop without losing integrity.
With Circles, however, Mannutza steps inward, toward a form of jazz that feels both composed and spontaneous, cerebral yet deeply human. His approach to melody is almost literary: phrases unfold like sentences, ideas are revisited and transformed, and every motif seems to carry subtext. The album’s title proves fitting, these are musical circles, recurring forms that expand, overlap, and echo without ever quite repeating.
Beneath the surface lies a strong sense of architecture. Mannutza’s harmonic language, rich in modal colors and shifting tonalities, recalls the elegance of Bill Evans and Martial Solal, yet remains unmistakably Mediterranean in temperament. The rhythm section breathes with supple clarity; solos evolve like reflections in water, distinct, yet inseparable from their source.
There are moments where the music evokes the lyrical complexity of 1970s French jazz, that blend of harmonic daring and emotional restraint, but Mannutza’s voice is his own. His background in classical music informs the way he organizes space and silence: structure never dominates expression, and improvisation never loses shape.
Perhaps what makes Circles so striking is its narrative depth. Each piece feels like a story unfolding in real time, a dialogue between thought and feeling. Mannutza’s extensive studio experience gives the album its polish, but what lingers is its sense of intimacy, the impression of a musician thinking aloud, allowing us to follow the paths of his imagination.
Listening to Circles is like watching a stone skip across water: each ripple forms its own pattern, distinct yet part of a greater geometry. It’s music that doesn’t seek to impress; it seeks to understand, to find beauty in repetition, meaning in motion, and coherence in the endless act of return.
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, November 13th 2025
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To buy this album (November 21, 2025)
Musicians :
Luca Mannutza Piano
Paolo Recchia Alto Saxophone
Jordan Corda Vibraphone
Daniele Sorrentino Bass
Sasha Mashin Drums
Track Listing :
Circles
Metamorpho
D-Isolation
Black Comedy
Herzog
December
Vortex
The End Of A Love Affair
Recorded at La Strada Studio, Rome – March 2024
Producer: Sasha Mashin SMASHINPRODUCTION
Recording Engineer: Enrico Furzi Assistant Engineers: Francesco Bennati Sasha Mashin
Mix Mastering Engineer: Sasha Mashin
Thanks to Nevaton Microphones, Yamaha Drums, D’Addario Zildjan/ VicFirth, Nino Sortino Ligatures
All Tracks by Luca Mannutza except track 2 by Matteo Sabattini Track 8 by Edward Edward Readding Produced by A.MA Records For A.MA Edizioni ℗ DuchessMusic Corporation ℗ Jordi Pujol Baulenas
Editor – track 4 by Tony Williams ℗ Timon Music CO – track 5 by Bobby Hutcherson ℗
Copyright Control – ©&℗ A.MA Edizioni
Tracks 3-6 Publishing by A.MA Edizioni – Tracks 1-7 Publishing By Edizioni Ishatr