Paolo Fresu trumpet, flugelhorn
Daniele di Bonaventura bandoneon

Sardinian-born trumpeter Paolo Fresu and bandoneonist Daniele di Bonaventura from Fermo, Italy, indicated the depth of their musical understanding on 2010’s Mistico Mediterraneo, a collaboration with Corsican singers A Filetta. Left to their own resources they explore a very broad range of material which includes original ballads by both men, improvisations, a Puccini theme from La Boheme, liturgical music, pieces by legendary Chilean songwriter Victor Jara and Uruguayan singer-songwriter Jaime Roos, music of Neapolitan composer Ernersto de Curtis, “O que sera” by Brazil’s Chico Buarque and more. Daniele Di Bonaventura has spent much of his creative life bringing aspects of jazz and music of South American traditions together, and Paolo Fresu is one of the outstanding lyrical voices of contemporary improvising. When Fresu plays muted trumpet, he makes a point of bringing Miles Davis to mind; at such moments, Di Bonaventura’s bandoneon becomes a chamber orchestra behind a soloist. The relationship between the instruments is continually changing throughout this attractive programme, recorded in the warm and spacious acoustics of Lugano’s Auditorio Stelio Molo RSI in May 2014, and produced by Manfred Eicher.(The session itself has already achieved a measure of renown: scenes from it appear in the new documentary Wenn aus dem Himmel by Italian filmmaker Fabrizio Ferraro, which is currently making the rounds of the festivals.)

Sardinian-born trumpeter Paolo Fresu and bandoneonist Daniele di Bonaventura from Fermo, Italy, indicated the depth of their musical understanding on 2010’s Mistico Mediterraneo, a collaboration with Corsican singers A Filetta. Left to their own resources they explore a very broad range of material which includes original ballads by both men, improvisations, a Puccini theme from La Boheme, liturgical music, pieces by legendary Chilean songwriter Victor Jara and Uruguayan singer-songwriter Jaime Roos, music of Neapolitan composer Ernersto de Curtis, “O que sera” by Brazil’s Chico Buarque and more. Daniele Di Bonaventura has spent much of his creative life bringing aspects of jazz and music of South American traditions together, and Paolo Fresu is one of the outstanding lyrical voices of contemporary improvising. When Fresu plays muted trumpet, he makes a point of bringing Miles Davis to mind; at such moments, Di Bonaventura’s bandoneon becomes a chamber orchestra behind a soloist. The relationship between the instruments is continually changing throughout this attractive programme, recorded in the warm and spacious acoustics of Lugano’s Auditorio Stelio Molo RSI in May 2014, and produced by Manfred Eicher.(The session itself has already achieved a measure of renown: scenes from it appear in the new documentary Wenn aus dem Himmel by Italian filmmaker Fabrizio Ferraro, which is currently making the rounds of the festivals.)