Short Reviews [Guarino Savoldelli Quintet - 2019 - "Core 'ngrato"]

Pianist and arranger Corrado Guarino is well known on the Italian jazz scene, often working with Guido Bombardieri (alto sax, clarinet), Tito Mangialajo Rantzer (bass) and Tito Mangialajo Rantzer (drums). On this release, the quartet have expanded to a quintet with the addition of singer Boris Savoldelli, who I have previously come across for his work on albums such as ‘The Great Jazz Gig In The Sky’ and ‘Nostalgia Progressivo’. He tends to come to jazz from a progressive background, and here is working with musicians who generally work more in “straight jazz”, and it is certainly an interesting combination. The quartet are used to working together and filling the space, bouncing, and reacting, and that is exactly what they do here when the opportunity arises. But on top of that we have Savoldelli who is determined to make his presence felt. This means he rarely sings in what would be considered the correct style for the music but is off doing very much his own thing. On top of that, some of his vocals have been treated so they slide and disappear, and he switches between singing, whispering, almost growling at times. On Some songs such as “Tammuriata Nera” it wouldn’t surprise me if the quartet recording the piece originally as an instrumental and then Savoldelli took it and added a vocal line and melody over the top of something which already existed and turned it into something else quite different. It does feel more like the work of two separate musical entities being brought crashing together and creating something which is different and exciting. Contrasting that we also have pieces such as “La Nova Gelosia” where the gentle piano is a delicate and restrained accompaniment to emotional vocals. This is not a true jazz album as such, as the vocals definitely take it somewhere else, jazz progressive maybe. It is not fusion; it is something quite different indeed. I am glad the vocals are in Italian, as it allows me to treat the voice as yet another instrument and not be distracted by the words. It is an interesting and engaging album, one which I have been listening to a great deal, and well worth investigation by those who want their jazz to be a little different to the norm (whatever that is).