Antonio Simone: To Giants - Metal Reel 1/4" 38cm/s (15ips) Tape, RTM LPR90, Numbered

To Giants, the new album by the pianist and trio leader, is a tribute to various jazz pianists and composers, pioneers of the different styles that have characterized the evolution of the genre. It is a celebration of the jazz piano, which embraces a vast range of styles and possibilities that only a multi-functional instrument like the piano can offer. The project unfolds with a number of compositions that mostly concern compositional progress aimed at revealing the artistic vein of pianist-composers (from the 40s to the 60s and beyond), with the exception of a single track "Naima" by J. Coltrane, belonging to the saxophone giant, to whom, given the composer's greatness, the pianist could not help but dedicate a tribute. In the album in question and in reference to this last track, the pianist wanted to underline the indispensability of such an artist who marked the closure of the bop period and the passage to free jazz, as well as the merit of giving a mystical vision to his compositions. It is no coincidence that the trio leader begins the track with a deep and contemplative interplay between double bass and Rhodes piano. The album "To Giants" contains the solo piano piece "Remembering Sante's way", an improvised fantasy by the pianist and dedicated to an illustrious pianist of the Italian jazz scene, Sante Palumbo. The piece aims to evoke the impressionistic and jazz sound of the Italian pianist. Sante Palumbo, a great pianist and composer of the 60s and 70s, boasts numerous collaborations with the greatest names in history including Astor Piazzolla and Ron Carter, and to whom the young pianist and protagonist of this album is very attached for educational reasons and not only.

Among the tracks of the same album it is possible to listen to pieces with the most characteristic mainstream sound and pieces with a revisited version of some themes in a more original version and reread with a new jazz sound. The track dedicated to B. Powell and T. Monk, such as "Giants' melodies" (a piece taken from the melodies of "Un poco Loco - Evidence", including a brief reference to Very early by Bill Evans) or Mercy mercy mercy by J. Zawinul, reflect the aforementioned. Of particular interest is the track "Giants' Conversation" a medley of famous compositions in which you can hear the great pioneers of jazz conversing with each other through the use of their own melodies and the gradual passage to a different sound. In fact, you can listen to Duke Ellington with Dancers in love (a piece with a stride piano character, composed in 1944 to pay homage to Fats Waller) Passion Dance by McCoy Tyner (a piece recorded in 1967 of the modal-quartal jazz genre), T. Monk with Well you Needn’t (famous 1944 bebop piece) and finally a brief mention of Rapsody in Blue by G. Gershwin, Rockin’ Rhythm by D. Ellington, and quotes from Blue Seven by Sonny Rollins and So What by Mil Davis. The final arrival of this track "Intro" is the song "Watch it" by H. Hancock, an artist who is very dear to the trio leader. The album contains two tribute tracks to two favorites and inspirers of the piano playing of the trio leader: African Flower by D. Ellington (1962) in an original sound characterized by the use of a percussion instrument such as the tar, and Arabesque by Ahmad Jamal (a pianist he is very fond of for the orchestral conception of his piano playing and use of spaces). A piece with the expressive and creative peculiarities of the pianist.

Tracklist

1- Mercy Mercy Mercy (J. Zawinul ); 06:45
2- Naima (J. Coltrane); 07:06
3- Arabesque (A. Jamal ); 14:08
4- Giants’ Melodies (Un poco Loco B. Powell – Evidence T. Monk ); 08:25
5- African Flower (D. Ellington); 07:51