LOOK FORWARD - Sax Four Fun

LOOK AHEAD (CVLD031)

Sax Four Fun

Available in: HD File, CD

1 - Dolofunky * 2’52” Fiorenzo Zeni
solos: Stefano, Fiorenzo
2 - Guarda avanti * 5’03” Fiorenzo Zeni
solo: Fiorenzo, Stefano
3 - Il senso di Smilla per le note * 4’49” William Tononi
solo: Stefano
4 - Stort Blues * 4’55” William Tononi
solos: Stefano, Fiorenzo
5 - Oasi°© 4’29” Pepito Ros
solo: Pepito
6 - Sax Four Fun° 3’44” Fiorenzo Zeni
solos: Pepito, Fiorenzo
7 - About you°© 5’19” Pepito Ros
solo: Pepito
8 - Latin Street°°© 4’53” Pepito Ros
solo: Fiorenzo
9 - Reactionary Tango * 4’21” Carla Bley / arr.Hans Tutzer
solo: Stefano
10 - Hard Times * 4’30” Paul F.Mitchell / arr.Hans Tutzer
solos: Stefano, Fiorenzo, Hans
11 - Abbamele°°° 4’52” Paolo Fresu / arr. Hans Tutzer
solo: Fiorenzo
12 - Mo Better Blues * 5’23” Bill Lee / arr.Giorgio Beberi
intro e solos: Stefano, Fiorenzo
Total time 55’16”

Stefano Menato, soprano-alto

Hanz Tutzer, alto

Fiorenzo Zeni, tenor

Giorgio Beberi, baritone

Pepito Ros, soprano-alto

* Stefano, Hans, Fiorenzo, Giorgio

° Pepito, Hans, Fiorenzo, Giorgio

°° Pepito, Stefano, Fiorenzo, Giorgio

°°° Stefano, Pepito, Hans, Fiorenzo, Giorgio

This recording was made at Teatro Comunale Polivalente, Abano Terme, Italy, on July 13 - 14, 1999, using the ultimate and the most advanced digital tecnology based upon 24Bit / 96Khz Analog to Digital Converter PRISM SOUND DREAM AD2.
Marco Lincetto used only a stereo pair omnidirectional mikes (SCHOEPS MK2s).

Production: VELUT LUNA
Executive Producer: Marco Lincetto
Recording & mastering engineer: Marco Lincetto
Artistic Direction: Sax Four Fun / Marco Lincetto
Editing engineer: Fabio Framba on SONIC SOLUTION 24/96 Workstation
Photo: Ilenco Tracmot
Critical notes: Vittorio Albani
Layout: Limage

 
Sax Four Fun # Guarda avanti
The title of Sax Four Fun's second album is in itself a programmatic declaration. "Guarda avanti" (Look Ahead) can, in fact, be easily seen as a response to the detractors of the "all saxophones" concept, for whom, after the World Saxophone Quartet and the 29th Street Saxophone Quartet, no further virtuoso innovations seem possible. A second and more intelligent analysis, however, prompts spontaneity and reflection on a project that, in truth, has much to say. And it is precisely by looking ahead, while respecting luminaries such as Murray, Hemphill, Lake, Bluiett, Purcell, Watson, Jackson, Rothenberg, Hartog, and other "sacred monsters" of the genre, that the quartet (or quintet when Pepito Ros's soprano or alto joins the choir) chooses modern and "creatively correct" phrasing, rich in the originality that is obviously lacking in other celebrated emulators of the aforementioned saxophone Bible. "Looking ahead" and, while traversing well-known territories such as the great sea of blues, the ensemble delves into its research across the entire range of the reed family, analytically exploring the polyphony of tradition, even in the absence of "historical" rhythm, managing to find useful propositional solutions. A collage in which irony and seriousness successfully combine in effective rivulets of fantasy and which – in the end – forge new kaleidoscopic structures, openly to be enjoyed. The architecture of the twelve tracks contained in this CD is in some ways notably unconventional, ready to play on the desire to create funk when the world seems to be working against it (Dolo Funky), in the improbable "Stort Blues" "stolen" from Guido Bombardieri's ensemble and splendidly arranged by Brescia guitarist William Tononi, in the 6/8 of Oasi where Pepito Ros doubles his credentials by scoring a perfect strike with the wonderful ballad About you, in the eponymous Sax Four Fun by Fiorenzo Zeni, which has now become the group's new "theme" and which fits well with the many "walking tunes" of the aforementioned groups of Murray and Watson, in the "joke" of a "perfect blues" that only becomes so later (Hard Times), in the reinterpretation of one of Carla Bley's great ironic modern masterpieces (Reactionary Tango) or, finally, in Paolo Fresu's beautiful Abbamele with which – among other things – the group has begun a collaboration that is yet to fully unfold and which finds the Sardinian trumpeter in full harmony with the evolutions of a combo capable of mediating – with innate illumination – the geometries of the score and the urgency of improvisation. The "live recording," well-produced by Marco Lincetto for the courageous Velut Luna, ennobles the concept: the time when jazz was just "stuff for Americans" is truly over.
Vittorio Albani