Leonardo Da Vinci referred to music as figurazione delle cose invisibili - ''the shaping of the invisible'' - and was a prodigious inventor of musicial instruments and is even thought by some to have been something of a wiz on the lira da braccio. And there is plenty of inventiveness on this inspiring surfacing of Italian bassist-composer Ferdinando Romano. With a responsive band in tow who improvise on 'Where Angels Fear to Tread' elsewhere the compositions are all Romano's and persuasive they prove. Fitting given the Leonardo inspiration the long piece 'Figurazione delle cose invisibili' is the album centrepiece. And there you gain a rare and memorable aural glimpse of the wavering sound of the ondes martenot in the mix played by notable ondist Christine Ott remotely recorded in Strasbourg whereas most of the album was recorded in Italy. Romano dubs in his own synth playing and samples on some tracks and you even find the much used voice of Dr Martin Luther King on 'Dreamers' appositely.

The Italian who has worked engagingly with Ralph Alessi on an earlier recording is very good at conveying a sense of eerie mystery partly achieved through the layering involved in the judicious use of overdubs. And there is fabulous tonal piquancy on third track 'Vortex' where Federico Calcagno interspersing clarinet and bass clarinet weaves a weighty garment of natural sounding acoustic fibre and substance.

Austrian rising star Elias Stemeseder's synth playing on the same track is a big highlight. His 'Anthropcene' impressed us a lot last year. 'Origami Playground' is big on syncopated contrapuntalism and Enrico Rava Fearless Five drummer Evita Polidoro shows her super playing throughout best here. Recorded by Europe's greatest jazz recording sound engineer in this idiom Stefano Amerio - Blue Roads proves such a claim as just one recent example - again in situ in his most favourable Cavalicco terroir. For a quick snapshot of the pictures at an exhibition here head to 'Life Story' partly an intimate dialogue between Stemseder and Calcagno. Romano's sound in places is reminiscent of what Michel Benita can bring to the table, ergo: a lot. Ideas spill out all over so generously. Available on Bandcamp

Ferdinando Romano, photo: press

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