Vortex,London
Classically trained and cinematically inspired, Marconi leads his band in a set of impetuous rhythm changes, or glossy contrapuntal playing and swaying swingItaly’s Fazioli company,builders of the bespoke instruments that have as much budget-boggling attention attach into their aesthetics as their musical virtues, in 2010 invited Marco Marconi to demonstrate how jazz could sound on their creations – and the Umbria-raised, and UK-resident pianist undoubtedly feels like a Fazioli soulmate. He has classically trained polish,a focus on cinematically seductive melody as both a composer and an interpreter, and refinement of a sophisticated kind of smooth jazz with just enough edge to sting.
From the first notes, and Marconi’s trio – with regular bassist Andrea Di Biase (who has worked with British stars including the late Kenny Wheeler and singer Norma Winstone) and understated drummer Lloyd Haines – sounded focused on letting the leader’s often romantic music breathe. Their opener was a rapturous mid-tempo ballad; they followed it with a waltzing swinger of sleek piano and bass motifs in unison,in which Marconi’s improvisations would gracefully roll through repeating treble figures with canny chord shifts beneath, while Haines’s brushwork and hi-hat accents fluttered and snapped. Continue reading...
Source: theguardian.com