Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Rosario Bonaccorso Quartet: A New Home

3

Rosario Bonaccorso Quartet: A New Home

By

Sign in to view read count
Rosario Bonaccorso Quartet: A New Home
There is a trend in jazz today to abandon beauty for technical ability. Odd meter and eccentric changes replace sympathetic music making, favoring skills over art. Thank the heavens there are those who have never abandoned beauty. One such musician is bassist Rosario Bonaccorso. His quartet recording A New Home is an exercise in elegance and style, featuring eleven original compositions by the bassist and leader. Pianist Enrico Zanisi returns from Bonaccorso's previous outing A Beautiful Story (Via Veneto Jazz, 2017). He joins trumpeter Fulvio Sigurta, drummer Alessandro Paternesi, and guest on four tracks, saxophonist Stefano di Battista. Listeners might recall Bonaccorso's participation on several Di Battista Blue Note releases: Parker's Mood (2004), 'Round About Roma (2002), and his self-titled debut in 2000 with Elvin Jones and Jacky Terrasson.

The disc opens with "Re And Ro, featuring first Sigurtà's tender trumpet, then Zanisi's piano gliding over the stratum laid down by the bassist and Paternesi's drums. There is a gentleness in this music as demonstrated with a brief sample of the baby murmurings of Bonaccorso's grandson heard on "Viva Lorenzo," which sets a percussive piano attack against the immensely bright sound of Di Battista's soprano saxophone. Here and throughout the recording, we hear an audio mix which doesn't bury the bass. This begs the question, why must it only be on recordings by bassists (and also drummers) that this phenomena occurs? Consider this recording alongside the music of Charles Mingus, Charlie Haden, and Oscar Pettiford, all bassists with a certain discernment. Bonaccorso constructs music with the shaded impressions of bebop with "Dubbididibba," and with "Luna Rossa" the soul jazz Alfred Lion required in his 1960s Blue Note sessions. Elsewhere he plots a whispered waltz with his "Waltz for George Sand," opening the piece with one of the few bass solos heard here. Revealing more about this recording would be like spoiling the end of a great movie.

Track Listing

Re and Ro; Viva Lorenzo; Dubbididibba; Ciaramell; Lonely Heart; Strange Weather; Crepuscolo; Le note del silenzio; Luna rossa; Waltz for George Sand; A New Home.

Personnel

Rosario Bonaccorso: double bass; Stefano Di Battista: soprano saxophone, alto saxophone; Fulvio Sigurtà: trumpet, flugelhorn; Enrico Zanisi: piano; Alessandro Paternesi: drums.

Album information

Title: A New Home | Year Released: 2019 | Record Label: Via Veneto Jazz

Comments

Tags


For the Love of Jazz
Get the Jazz Near You newsletter All About Jazz has been a pillar of jazz since 1995, championing it as an art form and, more importantly, supporting the musicians who create it. Our enduring commitment has made "AAJ" one of the most culturally important websites of its kind, read by hundreds of thousands of fans, musicians and industry figures every month.

You Can Help
To expand our coverage even further and develop new means to foster jazz discovery and connectivity we need your help. You can become a sustaining member for a modest $20 and in return, we'll immediately hide those pesky ads plus provide access to future articles for a full year. This winning combination will vastly improve your AAJ experience and allow us to vigorously build on the pioneering work we first started in 1995. So enjoy an ad-free AAJ experience and help us remain a positive beacon for jazz by making a donation today.

More

What Was Happening
Bobby Wellins Quartet
Laugh Ash
Ches Smith
A New Beat
Ulysses Owens, Jr. and Generation Y

Popular

Eagle's Point
Chris Potter
Light Streams
John Donegan - The Irish Sextet

Get more of a good thing!

Our weekly newsletter highlights our top stories, our special offers, and upcoming jazz events near you.