Frammenti by Marcello Giannini
Reworking a sound puzzle to find new connections
Marcello Giannini’s "Frammenti" between electronics and improvisation
Italian guitar player’s debut as a leader features more than 10 musicians
Spotlight on experimentation, programming and postproduction
Marcello Giannini’s “Frammenti” (“Fragments”) are those of a sound puzzle: rather than recreating the original image, he aims at finding new combinations and shaping a brand new picture. Experimenting and postproduction are at the core of this album and place it very close to an electronic music work. However, the guitarist has not only acted as a digital craftsman. He went further, reshuffling his cards and playing with his musicians who, in some cases, were totally unaware of the final result. Giannini has recorded many tracks house by house, sometimes asking the musicians to improvise and then going back at his desk and building a new song around that recording.
This is also why the album can count on so many collaborations: besides the leader, there are eleven musicians, such as Marco Castaldo (drums) and Ron Grieco (bass), who take part in most tracks, and Giacomo Ancillotto (guitar, effects), Pietro Santangelo (soprano sax), Vincenzo Lamagna (bass) and many more. In addition to having shared other projects with Giannini, such as the Neapolitan twelve year old band Slivovitz, all of them have joined forces on Crossroads Improring: a music collective that has been focusing on extemporary improvisation for 4 years now.
The most interesting aspect of this work – marking Giannini’s debut as a leader as well as his comeback at Auand Records’ after taking part in two projects such as “Brooks” and “Tricatiempo” – could be found on the programming side, although its basis are strongly fastened to electronic music and jazz. Some tracks clearly show the evidence of that: the sharply dark lines on “Eta Carinae” wrap the improvised parts and put a strain on the whole track until they finally unravel, while “Sonico” melody sounds like a narrow passage, slowly making its way over a frantic rumming.
The leader has patiently worked as a video editor would do for a movie, taking a chance to shape a story that is significantly different from what the shots were meant for. The frames are sound fragments here, as well as life pieces and common experiences, all put together to recreate a puzzle with unexpected results.
Tracklist
| 1. | Intro – For Crossroads Improring | 1:03 |
| 2. | Eta Carinae | 2:51 |
| 3. | Sonico | 4:13 |
| 4. | Antigone | 4:58 |
| 5. | Santa Eulalia | 5:00 |
| 6. | Sonnambuli | 4:36 |
| 7. | Frammenti | 6:19 |
| 8. | Petrolio | 4:29 |
| 9. | XY | 2:35 |
| 10. | Ansia | 4:53 |
| 11. | Outro – For Crossroads Improring | 1:31 |
Credits
Marcello Giannini - guitars, additional recording, programming
Marco Castaldo - drums
Ron Grieco - bass
Salvatore Rainone - additional drums
Marco Pezzenati - vibes on #7
Giacomo Ancillotto - noise, loops, feedback, guitar on #9
Vincenzo Lamagna - bass on #4,7,10
Riccardo Villari - violin on #3,4
Davide Maria Viola - cello on #2,8
Pietro Santangelo - soprano sax on #2,8
Jack D’Amico - Fender Rhodes on #10
Charles Ferris - trumpet, loops, fx on #7
Produced by Marcello Giannini
Executive Producer: Marco Valente
Recording: Ku Studio and at home, Naples – Italy
Engineer: Valerio Middione and Marcello Giannini
Cover Photo: Sabrina Cirillo
License
All rights reserved.
Auand Records is an Italian independent label dedicated to genre-defying music, providing a home for artists who push the boundaries of improvised music.
Founded in 2001 by Marco Valente, it has quickly become a seal of warranty for the next big artists who shape the sound of the future, often introducing their music to an international audience.