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MGM PRODUZIONI MUSICALI
è lieta di annunciare l’ingresso di John De Leo nella sua squadra!
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Nduduzo Makhathini
Over the course of his eight previous albums, perhaps what one can learn from the career of pianist, composer, and producer Nduduzo Makhathini is that an artist has achieved a tremendous breakthrough when they can tell a story so layered that its reach is limitless. The story continues with Makhathini’s remarkable ninth album, and his Blue Note Records debut, Modes of Communication: Letters from the Underworlds.
Makhathini grew up in the lush and rugged hillscapes of umGungundlovu in South Africa, a peri-urban landscape in which music and ritual practices were symbiotically linked. The area is significant historically as the site of the Zulu king Dingane kingdom between 1828 and 1840. It’s important to note that the Zulu, in fact the African warrior code, is deeply reliant on music for motivation and healing. This deeply embedded symbiosis is key to understanding Makhathini’s vision as a jazz man.
The role of the church can also not be ignored. Makhathini is said to have hopped from church to church in his younger days, in search of only the music. “I found the sermons to be a bit boring, to say the least,” he said, telling the BBC the story of “There’s Another Church Up The Road,” a track off his 2014 album Mother Tongue.
There has also been a long list of jazz elders Makhathini has imbibed from. “I think ubab’ [Bheki] Mseleku grew up listening to the same kind of music I grew up listening to, having come from KwaZulu-Natal,” he said. “Izangoma and all the different rituals that would have come with their repertoires. He was the most natural influence that I first heard.” He also mentions the likes of Moses Molelekwa who died young “but his contribution was so big,” especially in terms of wrestling against the strictures of genre. “ubab’Abdullah [Ibrahim] also contributes in defining African jazz piano,” said Makhathini. “He has written so much music and we grew up listening to it.”
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Enrico Rava
It has been more than 50 years since famed trumpeter Enrico Rava first appeared in the Italian and international jazz scenes. He had initially worked with artists such as Gato Barbieri and Steve Lacy, with whom he spent a brief period in Buenos Aires alongside South African musicians Johnny Dyani and Louis Moholo. He later moved to New York where he met and worked with artists such as Roswell Rudd, Carla Bley, John Abercrombie and Cecil Taylor. During the mid-1970's, he returned to Italy and spent the next few decades leading various groups and producing numerous recordings. His return also sparked a fascination with the Opera, which subsequently influenced two of his albums Rava, L'Opera Va' and Carmen. Moreover, he ventured into the world of pop through his renditions of selected songs of Michael Jackson, paying an homage to the deceased King of Pop by producing the album "On the dance floor". He was famously inclined to work with young musicians, which generated the discoveries of artists such as Massimo Urbani, Paolo Fresu, Stefano Bollani, Gianluca Petrella, Giovanni Guidi and Francesco Diodati. Throughout his extensive career, he has played alongside notable musicians such as Lee Konitz, Richard Galliano, Pat Metheny, John Scofield, Dave Douglas, Geri Allen, Cecil Taylor, Miroslav Vitous, Philip Caterine, Tomasz Stanko, Michel Petrucciani, John Abercrombie and Joe Lovano.
Fred Hersch
A full three decades after the release of the debut album Horizons, innovative master pianist and composer Fred Hersch still occupies a place in the pantheon of jazz greats. His style was influenced by legends like Ahmad Jamal, Bill Evans and Oscar Peterson. In the eighties, Hersch played as a sideman with famous jazz artists including Joe Henderson, Stan Getz and Toots Thielemans, and he taught Brad Mehldau and Ethan Iverson. Hersch has been nominated ten times for a Grammy Award and throughout his career he has made over three dozen albums as a leader and co-leader of bands. Since the nineties, the pianist has been particularly active in making albums, both as a solo artist and in collaboration with others. He recorded Sunday At The Vanguard with his Fred Hersch Trio whose other members are bassist John Hebert and drummer Eric McPherson; the album was nominated for two Grammy Awards.
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"Ojos de Gato"
a Tribute to Gato Barbieri
Gianluca Petrella, trombone
James Brandon Lewis, tenor sax
Giovanni Guidi, piano
Brandon Lopez, double bass
Chad Taylor, drums & percussions
Francisco Mela, drums & percussions
"Ojos de Gato" is a suite dedicated to the great Gato Barbieri.
It has everything in it: from tango to Don Cherry, from Enrico Rava to Abdullah Ibrahim, from Bernardo Bertolucci to South American traditional music and then all the cities from Buenos Aires to Rosario, New York, Paris and Rome. The band's contemporary sound where all members show their individuality through improvisation and engaging rhythm, eludes easy definition
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