Un Soffio Soltanto

 E. Montale - December '98 - Esilio - Inadatta - Un soffio soltanto - Bambina - Niente - Il tango delle pianure - Endless trip - Un soffio soltanto (Alternate take)

Members

Gianmario Liuni (piano and keyboards), Daniela Panetta (voice), Sandro Cerino (sax, clarinets, flutes and guitar), Maria Teresa Battistessa (clarinets), Giulio Visibelli (flutes),

Tito Mangialajo Rantzer (double bass), Alessio Pacifico (drums), Elio Marchesini (percussion)

Lyrics : Mara Cantoni

Original compositions and arrangements: Gianmario Liuni except "Il tango delle pianure" (A. Cappelletti) and "Endless trip" (S. Cerino)

Milano - October 16th,18th,19th, 2004

Advice Music CD AM005.

“Un soffio soltanto” comes out of the need to deepen my relation with the human voice as the prodrome and the muse of the piano voice.

My way of making jazz has always been characterized by lyricism both in themes and improvisations, by a melodic need which is deeply inborn as an intimate and true expression of personality. In such a context the human voice becomes an opportunity to write meaningful themes, as well as the final push to an improvisation that can extend its pathos.

To do so, you need deep texts which can evoke singing. I have found what I was looking for in the beautiful poems by Mara Cantoni, poetess and theatrical authoress.

My composition “E. Montale” has been an interesting experience of a three-hands arrangement, which I dedicate to the great poet and wrote following “Mottetto XVII” word by word (from “Mottetti”):

Il fiore che ripete

dall'orlo del burrato

non scordarti di me,

non ha tinte più liete né più chiare

dello spazio gettato tra me e te.

Un cigolìo si sferra, ci discosta,

l'azzurro pervicace non ricompare.

Nell'afa quasi visibile mi riporta all'opposta

tappa, già buia, la funicolare.

(E. Montale)

Special thanks to Sandro Cerino for the devotion and passion he has devoted to this project.

More thanks to: all the musicians for their serious commitment and the passion lavished in this work;

Maria Teresa Battistessa for the charming “classical” sound;

Daniela Panetta for the warmth and beautiful vibrations of the her voice, faithful interpreter of the deepest and the most different soul folds;

Giulio Visibelli for the solo which are always suitable, meaningful, rich in a warmth that is kept in the limits of elegance and naturalness;

Alessio Pacifico, true poet of drums and irreplaceable rhythmic reference for my music;

Tito Mangialajo Rantzer because the more I listen to him the more I wonder how many beautiful things can be done with such a difficult instrument like the contrabass;

Elio Marchesini for giving his refined colours to my compositions.

Gianmario Liuni (liner notes)

REVIEWS

Review taken from "Musica Jazz"

The opening piece comes from a previous work by Liuni, “Mottetti”, which is inspired by a text of Montale's omonymous collection. It is arranged by the pianist together with his music master Cappelletti, and Cerino, a constant and multiform presence in the whole album, due to Liuni's sensible way of overlay-recording: the fascinating timbre research, given by the only Cerino and Battistessa's wind instruments, works as a prelude and an introduction to the disc. In “December ‘98” and “Un soffio soltanto” a mix between melodic line, arrangement and the expressive but measured voice of Daniela Panetta can gather the deep sense of Mara Cantoni's poetic texts, giving them back in a wider dimension to us.

Two instrumental excerpts are very evocative, too: “Esilio” – where the leader takes on himself the role of composer and arranger, leaving the thoughtful piece to the singular dialogue between Visibelli's piccolo and Cerino's bass flute, enriched by Marchesini's soft marimba - and “Il tango delle pianure”, written by Cappelletti and arranged by Luini for piano, keyboards and the expressive flute of Cerino once again. “Un soffio soltanto” is offered in the quintet and trio (piano, voice and contralto) versions: in the first one, Cerino is more sharping, driven by Pacifico and Rantzer's rhythmics; in the second one, the atmosphere is more meditative and the two performances create an interesting counterpoint.

Francesco Martinelli - (Musica Jazz, anno 62°, n.3, Marzo 2006)

Review taken from "Jazzit":

A natural bent for impalpability and fleeing levity permeates the personality of Liuni, a greatly measured pianist, moderate as a melodist but skilled in conducting the ensemble. As a matter of fact all the musicians as a whole can really express the poetical meaning of the work, that is built around Mara Cantoni's lyrics and enriched by an excellent writing by Eugenio Montale.

The correlation among texts and music is conceived like a time of sociality for participants, as each of them helps the message strenghtening. The excerpt “Inadatta” has the most marked tendency to theatre – it could almost seem a musical song – and also shines for the best performance of Daniela Panetta, for her clear and direct way of intoning lyrics. “Un soffio soltanto” makes closer and more joined the connexion between music and lyrics, that is also due to Sandro Cerino sax. Short compositions for short excerpts, collected in a record that is as light and essential as a pocket-edition.

Gianpaolo Chiriacò - (Jazzit, anno 8 n° 34 Maggio-Giugno 2006)