Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Pericopes+1: Up

14

Pericopes+1: Up

By

Sign in to view read count
Pericopes+1: Up
For a recording titled Up, this one sure spends a lot of time going sideways. Cue the opening track and you're carried away on waves of briskly-flowing piano and saxophone as if there isn't a thing in the world to worry about. The feel becomes a bit more angular with the next, the drums leaning somewhat jittery as the sax breaks up the smoothness with a few heavier wails. It turns out they're only getting started; the players soon takes a hard turn into choppy rhythmic waters as the wails gain steam. Before you know it, Emiliano Vernizzi is garnishing his horn with some electronic squeals and blowing sharp stabs reminiscent of Back Door's Ron Aspery.

Well, Pericopes+1 hasn't been garnering their reputation as a startlingly eclectic trio for nothing. Up offers a solid hour of these twists and turns all over the tonal map. Alessandro Sgobbio spins elegantly beautiful piano lines in one moment and happily crashes alongside Nick Wight's clattering drums the next, somehow making the transitions feel less like sharp corners than natural curves in the road. "Disco Gagarin" ends up jumping into the juicier end of the fusion pool, while the likes of "Danza di Kuwa" slow down enough to fit in a spacey opium dream into the set as well.

While the middle stretch makes it seem like the album's dissolved into noise, the three do drift back to groove—albeit temporarily, as they still can't resist spicing up the almost-catchy daydream of "La Rentrée" with more fierce jamming and electricity. The disc winds down with a soothing track that's labeled as Dire Straits' "Sultans of Swing" but has mutated beyond any recognition, which comes out perfectly apt: it's both a smart distillation and a soothing way to return us to earth after the preceding craziness. Doubtlessly it's still just another temporary stop until they inevitably take off somewhere new and unexpected yet again.

Track Listing

Wonderland; Ucronia; Disco Gagarin; The Earth´s Shape; Danza di Kuwa; Martyrlied; Gorod Malinov; La Rentrée; Sultans of Swing.

Personnel

Additional Instrumentation

Alessandro Sgobbio piano, Fender Rhodes, electronics; Emiliano Vernizzi tenor saxophone, electronics; Nick Wight drums. String section on The Earth´s Shape: Anna Pollonio, Giulia Pontarolo, Margherita Cissio, Andrea Musto.

Album information

Title: Up | Year Released: 2020 | Record Label: Losen Records

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.