“Even the most modern and busy city is built on a piece of land, and at some point it opens up to a field, a forest, or to open water.”
IIK Music
Roberto Pistolesi / drums; Roberto Tarenzi / piano; Zack Lober / upright and electric bass; Daniel Juarez / tenor saxophone; Teis Semey / guitar; Sanne Huijbregts / vocal, lyrics, vibes
Roberto Pistolesi is best known for his work with world-famous saxophonist Stefano Di Battista. Pistolesi has a new album called OPEN LANDS AND MOVING PEOPLE. The CD cover has two graphics; a densely packed city and an open countryside with two windmills.
The music mirrors those images. Pistolesi’s quintet impacts like a hard driving well oiled machine. Sanne Huijbregts’s occasional vocals add a beautiful sunny respite.
“Even the most modern and busy city is built on a piece of land, and at some point it opens up to a field, a forest, or to open water.”
Pistolesi said the interaction between the land and all the people revolving around it was the inspiration for OPEN LANDS AND MOVING PEOPLE. Pistolesi wrote all the music on the album. Huijbregts helped write two of the songs.
‘High Res Skies ’puts the template in place for the album. There’s nothing diffident about Roberto Pistolesi’s drumming. His snares and cymbals take a beating.
Occasionally, the bass, guitar, and piano sound equally percussive. Sanne Huijbregts’s bit of wordless singing breaks from the complex and dynamic music going on around her. Adding Sanne to this project was brilliant.
‘Latina ’has piano and drums trading notes back and forth making it sound like two duelling metronomes. The addition of Huijbregts’s vibes make it sound a tad Asian?
Sanne beautifully sings a few lines of delicate jazz. This gives Roberto Tarenzi’s piano the okay to offer his own lovely solo. Teis Semey gives us his most melodic guitar solo on the album.
Sanne Huijbregts shows off her range scatting on ‘C-Ornette Alla Cream.’ This tune has almost a bop feel with everyone adding their own intriguing solos.
Zack Lober on bass and Daniel Juarez on tenor saxophone are terrific players who add a lot to this project.
Roberto Pistolesi’s name appears on the front cover as leader; but this cornucopia of striking musical ideas is very much a group effort.
Reviewed by Tim Larsen
