Michele Di Toro Trio feat. Klaus Gesing, From the Sky ****

Quite delicious this. And while Italian pianist Michele di Toro and for that matter drummer Marco Zanoli are not that well-known to UK audiences guest saxophonist Klaus Gesing (for his work with Norma Winstone) and bassist Yuri Goloubev (for his …

Published: 27 Jan 2022. Updated: 2 years.

Quite delicious this. And while Italian pianist Michele di Toro and for that matter drummer Marco Zanoli are not that well-known to UK audiences guest saxophonist Klaus Gesing (for his work with Norma Winstone) and bassist Yuri Goloubev (for his work with Gwilym Simcock) certainly are. It's a pastoral, chamber-jazz style of record, big on subtlety and deft modal progression. Gesing is a little like Tim Garland in the role he so successfully fulfils here. And Di Toro is good at navigating the lush chordal resources at his disposal and Goloubev as he so often does with Gwilym Simcock finds new musical vistas to explore and develop in imaginative fashion. Beautifully recorded by the great studio engineer Stefano Amerio there's a lot to gain from listening to this fine, very thoughtful, record that will boost Di Toro's reputation no end and deservedly so. Out on Bandcamp via this link

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John Hart, Euphoria, SteepleChase ****

What a precise quartet affair this is. Led by mainstream guitarist John Hart (I kept thinking of Jim Hall when listening to his fine mix of originals and standards) who is with pianist Jim Ridl, double bassist Martin Wind and drummer Tim Horner. …

Published: 26 Jan 2022. Updated: 2 years.

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What a precise quartet affair this is. Led by mainstream guitarist John Hart (I kept thinking of Jim Hall when listening to his fine mix of originals and standards) who is with pianist Jim Ridl, double bassist Martin Wind and drummer Tim Horner. But glancing at the standards ('Panonica,' 'I Didn't Know What Time It Was,' 'Out of Nowhere,' 'Lover Man,' 'Body and Soul,' 'With a Song in My Heart') you might think we have been down this familiar road many times before. And yet the quartet manage to draw out things you never heard in the standards before. Certainly Hart's intricate harmonic ingenuity and the steady beat that Martin Wind provides time and time again are part of the winning formula. And the originals, especially 'Area 51,' fit well and actually win over most on an album that proves that you do not have to shout the loudest to be really heard.