My favorite things, pt. 3: Setola Di Maiale

I've sung the praises of drummer Stefano Giust's label before on this blog. Founded in 1993, Setola Di Maiale continues to put out a steady stream of releases that combine some names you know with some you don't, and are always challenging and worthwhile.

These CR-Rs are well-recorded and come housed in contemporary, eye-catching graphics, most of them designed by Giust himself, who trained as a graphic designer. Setola Di Maiale illustrates how vibrant an improvised music scene there is in Italy, in the same way For Tune highlights Polish musicians.

Some recent Setola Di Maiale releases I've enjoyed are:

One Lip 5 - Apro il Silenzio (I open the silence); with Guido Mazzon, Nicola Catteneo, Franco Cortellessa, Alberto Mandarini, Stefano Giust, etc.

Sabir Mateen (sax), Gianni Lenoci (piano), Giacomo Mongelli (drums) - Testing the System

Guido Mazzon (trumpet), Marta Sacchi (clarinets), Stefano Giust (percussion) - Neu Musik Projekt










The site is down temporarily, but you can see most of the catalog at Discogs.

Transition – At Mibnight Jazz Festival

For the next few days, I’m going to turn my attention to new Italian jazz, specifically several new releases from the Setola di Maiale label of drummer Stefano Giust. Solos, duos, trios and a quintet are all represented, along with a variety of approaches from through-composed music to totally free. 

Transition 

At Mibnight Jazz Festival 

Setola di Maiale 

Nils Gerold - Flute
Nicola Guazzaloca - Piano
Stefano Giust - Drums 

First up is a live recording from the 2012 Mibnight Jazz Festival in Bremen, Germany from the trio known as Transition. This is another great release from them, following their self-titled record, which I reviewed previously. 

With a lineup of flute, piano and drums, one might expect a pastoral approach, but that’s hardly the case. The trio generates plenty of heat, with the interaction between Guazzaloca and Giust recalling the epic battles of Cecil Taylor and Tony Oxley. Nils Gerold is pushing the boundaries of the flute as an improvising instrument, and he deserves to be mentioned alongside Nicole Mitchell as one of the top flautists in today’s music. 

Within the three pieces, which sound completely improvised, the group exhibits great range, “transitioning” if you will from terse exchanges to very dense passages. The live sound is crisp and clear, and with the absence of audience noise, Mibnight sounds very close to a studio recording.

Definitely one to seek out if you’re a fan of free improv or the flute in new music.

The Star Pillow - The Beautiful Questions & Via Del Chiasso

The Star Pillow

The Beautiful Questions

Setolo Di Maiale/Taverna Records

Paolo Monti – Electric Guitar, Electronics

Federico Gerini – Acoustic Grand Piano

The Star Pillow is a duo consisting of guitarist Paolo Monti and pianist Federico Gerini. Stefano Guist’s Setola Di Maiale label has jointly released these two albums with Taverna Records, founded by Monti. Setola Di Maiale, profiled in a previous post, is frequently home to satisfying, unexpected music in high quality CD-R format and these releases are no exception. 

The Beautiful Questions could best be described as ambient. It’s a quiet, ruminative affair, with the musicians establishing soundscapes that float in the air. There’s an ornery side to their musical personality, though, as one or the other will throw in a curveball to disrupt the flow, before returning to a more placid state. There’s intent and purpose here, but as this is not a genre I listen to, it’s hard for me to judge the extent of their success. As the musicians state:

“The time dilates, the instinct is left free to roam, to follow unusual routes, to get lost in the sound and in the time of a note or a noise, and then become dissonant and disturb the quiet calm created.”

The Star Pillow Meet Bruno Romani

Via Del Chiasso

Setolo Di Maiale/Taverna Records

Paolo Monti – Guitars & Effects

Federico Gerini – Acoustic Upright Piano

Bruno Romani – Alto Sax, Flute, Ethnic Flute

Via Del Chiasso is a very different affair. The Star Pillow add Bruno Romani on sax and flute, and this brings out the free improv side of their personality. The three musicians work well together, generating a nice dialogue between them.

The music on Via Del Chiasso seems to have some pre-determined themes, generally introduced by Gerini, that frequently have a darker, pensive quality about them. Gerini plays an upright, which intentionally or unintentionally is a little out of tune: Think Cecil Taylor’s piano on Nefertiti, The Beautiful One Has Come. Guitarist Monti can pick some jazzy single note lines or generate electronic effects as commentary. The closing track, In Rosso, features the most traditional jazz piano of the whole album, working well with Romani’s cool-toned alto to end on an upbeat note. 

You can order either CD via the Setola Di Maiale website.

New Music From Italy

Stefano Giust

"What type of music can represent the contemporary world? Doubtless it would be modern music, the type of music that has its roots in the reality of daily life, that reports on social upheavals and the fact that the majority of the public couldn't care less about music. At the same time there would have to be — as is true of any truth — something sensational about it and to this aim it would suffice for it not to be false..." Fred K. Prieberg, Musica Ex Machina, Berlin, 1960. (From the Setola Di Maiale website)

I have Stef’s Free Jazz Blog to thank for introducing me to the Italian musician-owned label Setola Di Maiale and to Gianni Lenoci’s album Empty Chair in particular. Setola Di Maiale (which according to Google Translate means “Bristle Pig”) is a musician’s collective started in 1993 by drummer Stefano Giust to document work in a high-quality CDR format. As the website states, “Self-produced music and DIY attitude inevitably are the only way for (a) certain type of music to exist, in a market that either is clearly not there, or is stereotyped.”

Gianni Lenoci Hocus Pocus 4 + Taylor Ho Bynum
Empty Chair

Gianni Lenoci - Piano

Vittorio Gallo - Soprano Sax
Pasquale Gadaleta – Double Bass
Giacomo Mongelli – Drums
Taylor Ho Bynum - Cornet

For Empty Chair, Lenoci’s quartet is augmented by Taylor Ho Bynum, and the result is a stellar effort in which compositions, mostly by Lenoci, are interspersed with a series of duets between Bynum and each band member. The album is capped off with a collective improvisation. The compositions are intriguing, building episodically rather than in a head-solos-head manner. The duets fold in well with the composed pieces, and there’s a very cohesive feel to the whole album.

Transition
S/t

Nils Gerold - Flute
Nicola Guazzaloca - Piano
Stefano Giust - Drums

I’m generally steering clear of free improv dates these days, as I feel that there are relatively few musicians who can sustain interest in that format. This one, however, is an exception. I don’t know how long this group has been playing together, but they are a very close-knit unit. That they can turn on a dime from intense rumbling passages to sparse meditation has me wondering if maybe there are composed elements to this, or some kind of pre-arranged structure. At any rate, I like that there’s an underlying sense of purpose behind the music, it’s not just meandering about.

Guazzaloca uses dark, dense clusters that will remind you of Cecil Taylor, but he’s not a slavish imitator and has his own language as well. Guist alternates between a Cyrille-like fleetness and something heavier, almost tympani-like in places. Gerold concentrates on the “natural” sound of the flute rather than extended techniques and impresses as well. Here's a clip with some of the music:

Both can be ordered through the Setola Di Maiale website.