Gianluigi Trovesi, Umberto Petrin, Fulvio Maras - Vaghissimo Ritratto (2007)

ECM gorgeousness from clarnietist Gianluigi Trovesi, with fellow Italians Umberto Petrin on piano and Fulvio Maras on percussion & electronics.  The starting point for this album's concept was a Palestrina madrigal in which the phrase "vaghissimo ritratto" appears; it apparently translates to "most graceful portrait".  A series of thematic "portrait" suites take in music by Monteverdi, Desprez and others, and even a rendering of Brel's Amsterdam, alongside tracks composed or improvised by the trio.

As can be expected from ECM, every note, every little sound from the instruments, and the occasional little electronic effects or bits of spoken voice all sound absolutely phenomenal.  Each musician plays with such refined subtlety (barring occasional dynamic flourishes from Trovesi - he almost sounds like Garbarek on Mirage) that the result falls somewhere between chamber music and beautifully mellow jazz.  Highly recommended for late night immersion.

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Previously posted at SGTG:
Gianluigi Trovesi & Gianni Coscia - In Cerca Di Cibo

Gianluigi Trovesi & Gianni Coscia - In Cerca Di Cibo (2000)

An enduring ECM favourite of mine, In cerca di cibo (In search of sustenance) is a gorgeous, mostly mellow album of duets between two Italians - accordionist Gianni Coscia and clarinetist Gianluigi Trovesi.  Half of the compositions on this gem of an album come from Fiorenzo Capri's soundtrack to a 1971 Italian TV movie about Pinocchio (see below), which provides the melancholy backbone around which jazzier material by the two musicians and others can be deftly sequenced.  Taken as a whole, it's like a street-cafe performance by two seasoned local musicians on a lazy Sunday afternoon somewhere in Italy, and always provides the sustenance that the listener has been searching for, and then some.

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