Search - Gianluigi Trovesi :: Around Small Fairy Tales

Brilliant celebration of home

greg taylor | Portland, Oregon United States | 09/20/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I have been wanting to write this review for some time. I have hundreds of CDs but none that sound like this one. Gianluigi Trovesi was born in the northern Italian town of Nembro and still calls it home. On this album he plays with the Enea Salmeggia Chamber Orchestra of Nembro. The arrangements are by Bruno Tommaso. The songs are mostly by Trovesi and Tommaso and are based on Italian Renaissance music. The result is a gorgeous album that does sound like Morricone in it's melodic richness and orchestral lushness but is played by musicians that display greater instrumental mastery.
Trovesi's clarinet sound is as unique and as beautiful as anybody's. He is a wonderful saxophonist as well. He should be better known in this country if we weren't so parochial. The world adapted jazz much more quickly than they did basketball but it is time in both endeavors that we realize that we can learn from others. Let's face it- much of the best jazz music out there is being done overseas.Emilio Soana on the trumpet, Andrea Dulbecco on the vibes, and Stefano Montanari (Trovesi's son-in-law) on the violin all make wonderfully beautiful and lyrical contributions to this music.
The above fact about the relationship between Montanari and Trovesi speaks to the heart of the matter. As does the fact that Trovesi's daughter, Stefania, also plays on the album. This music is rooted in family, neighborhood and tradition. Trovesi has taken some of the music that he inherited and reimagined it in a new context. The beauty of his artistry is such that by the reimagining he has opened that family, that neighborhood and that tradition up to us and invited us in. I, for one, find it a very comfortable fit. What more can I say? Grazie, Gianluigi."