It’s easy to recommend AVERNO. This piano trio is all about the equal interchange of ideas amongst musicians at home in either the jazz or classical realm.
Jazzit Records
Stefano Falcone – piano; Ilaria Capalbo – double bass; Giuseppe D’Alessandro – drums
A lot of piano trio albums could be described as solo piano with bass and drums backup. You can’t say that about the new Kósmos album, AVERNO. This is very much a group effort. All three members wrote the music. You can hear bass, drums, and piano equally in the recorded mix.
Lake Averno is just up the coast from Naples, Italy. Romans thought the lake was the entrance to the underworld. it’s been called Lago D’Averno, or the Gates Of Hell. The lake was once an active volcano with so much sulphur in the air birds and other animals avoided it.
AVERNO is an interesting name choice for an album so full of life, musicality, and passion.
Ilaria Capalbo, based in Stockholm, says melody is the most important thing when she’s playing bass. She cited Charlie Haden as an influence; especially his melodic approach to the instrument.
One reviewer said pianist Stefano Falcone “maintains an air of majesty in his playing.” He can be dramatic but he’s not afraid to play with space. He’s always lyrical.
Falcone studied classical music and it shows up on ‘Hymn.’ There’s a tad of Mozart here. It’s very hummable. The bass mirrors the opening theme, plucking some higher notes to offset what Falcone’s left hand is doing. Giuseppe D’Alessandro’s drumming is concise; his snare work bright and steady.
Capalbo’s fat sounding bass notes resonate on ‘Distances.’ Falcone is forcefully pushing his piano making the notes dramatically ring out.
The melancholy ‘Sa Rinner Tiden Bort ’is the only tune not written by the trio. It’s spacey, eerie, and beautiful at the same time.
It’s easy to recommend AVERNO. This piano trio is all about the equal interchange of ideas amongst musicians at home in either the jazz or classical realm.
