A surprising and delightful album that continues to delight with each and every hearing, and sure to be a strong contender as one of the best albums of 2026.
ECM 2883 / 610 6073
Enzo Favata (soprano saxophone, clarinet, bass clarinet); Daniele di Bonaventura (bandoneon); Marcello Peghin (ten-string guitar); Salvatore Maltana (double bass); U.T. Gandi (drums)
Recorded January 2026
This may well be one of the most unexpected and surprising releases this year from ECM. The debut recording from reeds player Enzo Favata and his Atlantico quintet. Less surprising is the fact that the quintet has been in existence for some twenty-five years and this is immediately apparent in the empathy and understanding that Atlantico the performances here.
Drawing together influences from Southern Italy, the Mediterranea and Latin America, Favata’s music spans jazz, improvisation and chamber music dynamics in an absorbing and lyrical album that is a sheer joy. The quintet immediately set the tone of the record with ‘Tukuman’. An extremely memorable melody and superb arrangement that seemingly lays out the role that each instrument is prescribed with the ensemble sound, only to stretch these boundaries as the album progresses. Favata’s clean and clear toned soprano saxophone soars in a captivating solo to be followed by a wonderful outing from di Bonaventura’s bandoneon.
Di Bonaventura shines throughout the recording, and also demonstrates what a fine composer he is for group on the beguiling ‘Sine Nomine’ that weaves its magic in a mesmerising manner with the inherent lyricism of the music examined from every angle; and the closing ‘Alabatros’ that features Favata’s bass clarinet painting a dreamlike picture over the delicate musings of the bandoneon and Peghin’s ten-string acoustic guitar.
The leader’s woody clarinet is heard on the haunting ‘Escuchame’, but elswhere it is his soprano playing that captivates on compositions such as ‘El Sur’ with it delicate introduction from guitar that leads into another lyrical composition that has both fragility and beauty in this sparse and wonderfully contained arrangement.
A surprising and delightful album that continues to delight with each and every hearing, and sure to be a strong contender as one of the best albums of 2026.
