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Adventures on Magia

Massimiliano Rolff

Adventures on Magia

Price: € 19.95
Format: CD
Label: Challenge Records
UPC: 0608917355628
Catnr: CR 73556
Release date: 05 May 2023
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Label
Challenge Records
UPC
0608917355628
Catalogue number
CR 73556
Release date
05 May 2023
Album
Artist(s)
Composer(s)
EN
DE
IT

About the album

The critical truth of life, for some musicians, is the granitic coherence with style; a musical habitat shared with musicians with identical passions, which guarantees perfect mastery of one’s expressive means, fluency and an ability to build, mimetically, new themes that follow in the footsteps of those who have marked the path of that aesthetic. On the other hand, other musicians feel an urgent need, as the years of life and career unfold, to expand their comfort zone so as to face still significant risks for themselves and new adventures for those who want to listen.

Massimiliano Rolff belongs to this second category of musicians. Many sound practices (well rooted in Afro-American aesthetics, but with a wider ambit than that) inhabit the composer bassist’s head, heart and fingers; a shimmering pool of possibilities that occasionally spark inventive ideas in his path. You can appreciate Rolff as the solid, pragmatic, hard-bop bassist with impeccable intonation and an excellent feel for swing. On the other hand, you might happen to see him playing an electric bass chasing the thickening of Pastorius-style sixteenth notes with a jazz-funk group. Finally, you might savour his uncommon talent for investigating the most reclusive harmonic folds in Gershwin’s magnificent sound epiphanies. One way or another, you will know that here, in this recording, the musical air you’re breathing is quite different.

Here, the practice of Latin jazz returns (strengthened and refined), a practice that has been maturing in the musician’s spirit for a long time and that has already left traces in recent recordings. For some musicians, however, the return here is a happy one. Jazz is not a solitary flower: it is a bunch of uncut flowers with small but solid roots, in nourishing soil, that have consistently produced an iridescent sparkle. The colours of jazz accentuate darting melodic profiles derived from the Gaelic heritage, notes that tend towards the one immediately above or bend to caress the one immediately below, resulting from an African, or perhaps Afro-Mediterranean, flexible attitude, and more. The many Latin cultures which - through State colonial robbery or individual survival, found themselves in Latin America, the Caribbean and North America – ended up in confrontation with all other cultures.

In New Orleans in the early 1900s, people spoke Spanish, French, Italian, German, English and several African languages: every facet of musical culture has left flowers that have in the end burgeoned into fruit. With the European cultural tradition, which we find here in the rounded elegance of the string quartet, often superimposed on harmonic backgrounds or in contrapuntal dialogue with the horns, the rhythmic propulsion of the Caribbean-African-Latin “tresillo” that crosses two beats and three in striking combinations, the melodic sweetness of Italian opera, the free play on syncopated rhythmic scenarios, which in New Orleans made every piece of music sound dance-like, the “ragged time.”

All this can be found in Magia, in a successful fusion, never cold (with a seasoned but subtle West-Coast finesse of arrangement), which communicates a quiet but adventurous joie de vivre. It is the rare gift that Magia, Rolff’s old sailboat, continues to bestow upon its helmsman. Here it is, the secret revealed.
Die entscheidende Wahrheit des Lebens ist für einige Musiker die grandiose Kohärenz mit dem Stil; ein musikalisches Habitat, das sie mit Musikern mit den gleichen Leidenschaften teilen, das die perfekte Beherrschung der eigenen Ausdrucksmittel, die Geläufigkeit und die Fähigkeit garantiert, neue Themen zu entwickeln, die in die Fußstapfen derjenigen treten, die den Weg dieser Ästhetik vorgezeichnet haben. Andererseits verspüren andere Musiker im Laufe ihres Lebens und ihrer Karriere das dringende Bedürfnis, ihre Komfortzone zu erweitern, um für sich selbst noch erhebliche Risiken einzugehen und für die Zuhörer neue Abenteuer zu erleben.
Massimiliano Rolff gehört zu dieser zweiten Kategorie von Musikern. Im Kopf, im Herzen und in den Fingern des komponierenden Bassisten finden sich zahlreiche Klangpraktiken (die zwar in der afroamerikanischen Ästhetik verwurzelt sind, aber darüber hinausgehen), ein schillerndes Reservoir an Möglichkeiten, das ihm gelegentlich erfinderische Ideen in den Weg stellt. Man kann Rolff als soliden, pragmatischen Hard-Bop-Bassisten mit tadelloser Intonation und einem ausgezeichneten Gefühl für Swing schätzen. Andererseits kann man ihn als E-Bassisten erleben, der mit einer Jazz-Funk-Gruppe den Sechzehntelnoten im Pastorius-Stil nachjagt. Und schließlich können Sie sein ungewöhnliches Talent genießen, die verborgensten harmonischen Falten in Gershwins großartigen Klangepiphanien zu erforschen. So oder so werden Sie wissen, dass die musikalische Luft, die Sie bei dieser Aufnahme atmen, eine ganz andere ist.

Hier kehrt (gestärkt und verfeinert) die Praxis des Latin Jazz zurück, eine Praxis, die seit langem im Geist des Musikers gereift ist und bereits in den letzten Aufnahmen Spuren hinterlassen hat. Für einige Musiker ist diese Rückkehr jedoch eine glückliche. Der Jazz ist keine einzelne Blume, sondern ein Strauß ungeschnittener Blumen mit schmalen, aber soliden Wurzeln in nährstoffreicher Erde, die immer wieder ein schillerndes Funkeln hervorbringen. Die Farben des Jazz akzentuieren die aus dem gälischen Erbe stammenden flinken melodischen Profile, die Noten, die zu der unmittelbar darüber liegenden tendieren oder sich beugen, um die unmittelbar darunter liegende zu umschmeicheln, die aus einer afrikanischen oder vielleicht afro-mediterranen, flexiblen Haltung resultieren, und mehr. Die vielen lateinischen Kulturen, die sich - durch staatlichen Kolonialraub oder individuelles Überleben - in Lateinamerika, der Karibik und Nordamerika ansiedelten, gerieten in Konfrontation mit allen anderen Kulturen.
Im New Orleans der frühen 1900er Jahre sprach man Spanisch, Französisch, Italienisch, Deutsch, Englisch und mehrere afrikanische Sprachen: Jede Facette der Musikkultur hat Blüten hinterlassen, die schließlich zu Früchten heranwuchsen. Mit der europäischen Kulturtradition, die wir hier in der abgerundeten Eleganz des Streichquartetts finden, oft überlagert von harmonischen Hintergründen oder im kontrapunktischen Dialog mit den Bläsern, dem rhythmischen Antrieb des karibisch-afrikanisch-lateinischen "Tresillo", der in auffälligen Kombinationen zwei und drei Takte kreuzt, der melodischen Süße der italienischen Oper, dem freien Spiel mit synkopischen rhythmischen Szenarien, die in New Orleans jedes Musikstück tänzerisch klingen ließen, dem "ragged time".
All das findet sich in Magia wieder, in einer gelungenen, nie kalten Fusion (mit einer gewürzten, aber subtilen West-Coast-Finesse des Arrangements), die eine leise, aber abenteuerliche Lebensfreude vermittelt. Es ist die seltene Gabe, die Magia, Rolffs altes Segelboot, seinem Steuermann immer wieder schenkt. Hier ist es, das Geheimnis gelüftet.
Linee di copertina a cura di Guido Festinese
Il dato significativo di una vita, per certi musicisti, è la coerenza granitica con uno stile, un habitat sonoro condiviso con musicisti dalle identiche passioni che garantisca padronanza perfetta dei propri mezzi espressivi, scioltezza, capacità di costruire, mimeticamente, nuovi temi che calchino le orme di quelli che hanno segnato il cammino di quell’estetica. Per un altro tipo di musicisti invece preme la necessità urgente, mano a mano che si srotolano gli anni di vita e di carriera, di forzare quella comfort zone troppo sicura per riuscire ancora a intuire azzardi significativi per sé, e nuove avventure sonore per chi vorrà ascoltarle.

Massimiliano Rolff appartiene a questa seconda categoria di musicisti. Molte pratiche sonore (ben radicate nelle estetiche afroamericane, ma non solo ) abitano testa, cuore e dita del bassista compositore, un mazzo cangiante di possibilità che di volta in volta attivano idee inventive nel suo percorso. Se avete apprezzato il Rolff solido, pragmatico bassista hard bop dall'intonazione e dal walking ineccepibile, se invece vi è capitato di vederlo con un basso elettrico a rincorrere l'infittirsi di biscrome alla Pastorius con un gruppo jazz funk, se, infine, avete gustato le non comuni dote nell'indagare le pieghe armoniche più nascoste nelle magnifiche epifanie sonore di Gershwin, sappiate che qui tutt’altra è l'aria musicale che si respira.

Qui torna (e si potenzia, affinandola) la pratica di un latin jazz che da molto tempo alberga nello spirito del musicista, e ha già lasciato tracce discografiche nel suo passato prossimo. Alcuni musicisti, peraltro, sono qui un felice ritorno. Il jazz non è un fiore solitario: è un mazzo di fiori non recisi, piccole ma solide radici in un humus nutriente che ha sempre sortito uno sfavillio policromatico. I colori del jazz contemplano profili melodici guizzanti che arrivano dal patrimonio gaelico, note che si tendono verso quella immediatamente più in alto o si piegano ad accarezzare quella più vicina in basso, scaturite da un’attitudine flessuosa africana, o forse afromediteranea, e altro ancora. Le molte culture latine che, per rapina coloniale di stato o per necessità di sopravvivenza individuale, si sono ritrovate tra America Latina, Caraibi e America del Nord hanno avuto un confronto diretto con tutte le altre culture.

A New Orleans nel primo ’900 si parlava spagnolo, francese, italiano, tedesco, inglese, e una quantità di lingue africane: ogni addendo di cultura musicale ha lasciato fiori che sono diventati, a somma finale, frutti. Con la tradizione eurocolta europea, che qui ritroviamo nell'eleganza tornita degli archi in quartetto, spesso fondale armonico avvolgente o dialogo contrappuntistico con i fiati, il propulsore ritmico del “tresillo”, la cellula ritmica latin caraibico-africana che accorpa il due e il tre in efficaci combinazioni, la dolcezza melodica dell’opera italiana, il gioco libero sulle gabbie ritmiche con ritardi e anticipi che a New Orleans faceva pronunciare in maniera danzante ogni musica, il “ragged time”. Tutto questo ritrovate in Magia, in una fusione riuscita, mai a freddo, (ben memore anche di nascoste finezze d'arrangiamento westcoastiane), che comunica una quieta ma avventurosa gioia di vivere. È il dono periodico che Magia, la vecchia barca a vela di Rolff, continua a riservare al suo nocchiero. Eccolo, il segreto svelato.

Artist(s)

Massimiliano Rolff (double bass)

Massimiliano Rolff's music, founded on a deep knowledge of the jazz tradition combined with a personal taste for composition, has become in recent years a point of reference for many lovers of jazz music in Italy and in Europe. Appreciated composer and refined arranger, Massimiliano Rolff in the last 15 years has played continuously in the best Jazz Clubs and Festivals in Europe, the Americas and Asia, as a leader and alongside some of the most important jazz players on the international scene, releasing eight albums as a leader and dozens as a sideman. He has played in festivals, clubs and theaters and embassies in Italy, Holland, France, Austria, Switzerland, Spain, Germany, Bulgaria, Israel, Turkey, Argentina, Uruguay, China, Hong Kong, Japan,...
more

Massimiliano Rolff's music, founded on a deep knowledge of the jazz tradition combined with a personal taste for composition, has become in recent years a point of reference for many lovers of jazz music in Italy and in Europe.

Appreciated composer and refined arranger, Massimiliano Rolff in the last 15 years has played continuously in the best Jazz Clubs and Festivals in Europe, the Americas and Asia, as a leader and alongside some of the most important jazz players on the international scene, releasing eight albums as a leader and dozens as a sideman. He has played in festivals, clubs and theaters and embassies in Italy, Holland, France, Austria, Switzerland, Spain, Germany, Bulgaria, Israel, Turkey, Argentina, Uruguay, China, Hong Kong, Japan, USA. Among his collaborations we remember the groups with extraordinary musicians such as Steve Grossman, Scott Hamilton, Jesse Davis, Phil Woods, Dave Schnitter, Perico Sambeat, Eric Legnini, Danny Grissett, Eliot Zigmund, Peter King, Herb Geller, Rachel Gould, Gilad Atzmon. In the italian context Rolff often appears alongside musicians friends such as Dado Moroni, Fabrizio Bosso, Emanuele Cisi, Andrea Pozza, Enzo Zirilli, Andrea Dulbecco, U.T. Gandhi, Paolo Damiani, Flavio Boltro, Gabriele Mirabassi, Tino Tracanna, among others.

Since 2006 he has released 8 albums as a leader and composer, winning many awards, with important feedbacks from audiences and international critics. There are dozens of his appearances as a sideman on as many albums. In 2008 he founded with other musicians the Count Basie Jazz Club in Genoa, and since 2010 he has been a jazz teacher in many Italian Conservatories.


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Mario Principato (percussion)

David Pastor (trumpet)

Gianni Virone (alto saxophone)

Roberto Piga (violin)

Composer(s)

Massimiliano Rolff (double bass)

Massimiliano Rolff's music, founded on a deep knowledge of the jazz tradition combined with a personal taste for composition, has become in recent years a point of reference for many lovers of jazz music in Italy and in Europe. Appreciated composer and refined arranger, Massimiliano Rolff in the last 15 years has played continuously in the best Jazz Clubs and Festivals in Europe, the Americas and Asia, as a leader and alongside some of the most important jazz players on the international scene, releasing eight albums as a leader and dozens as a sideman. He has played in festivals, clubs and theaters and embassies in Italy, Holland, France, Austria, Switzerland, Spain, Germany, Bulgaria, Israel, Turkey, Argentina, Uruguay, China, Hong Kong, Japan,...
more

Massimiliano Rolff's music, founded on a deep knowledge of the jazz tradition combined with a personal taste for composition, has become in recent years a point of reference for many lovers of jazz music in Italy and in Europe.

Appreciated composer and refined arranger, Massimiliano Rolff in the last 15 years has played continuously in the best Jazz Clubs and Festivals in Europe, the Americas and Asia, as a leader and alongside some of the most important jazz players on the international scene, releasing eight albums as a leader and dozens as a sideman. He has played in festivals, clubs and theaters and embassies in Italy, Holland, France, Austria, Switzerland, Spain, Germany, Bulgaria, Israel, Turkey, Argentina, Uruguay, China, Hong Kong, Japan, USA. Among his collaborations we remember the groups with extraordinary musicians such as Steve Grossman, Scott Hamilton, Jesse Davis, Phil Woods, Dave Schnitter, Perico Sambeat, Eric Legnini, Danny Grissett, Eliot Zigmund, Peter King, Herb Geller, Rachel Gould, Gilad Atzmon. In the italian context Rolff often appears alongside musicians friends such as Dado Moroni, Fabrizio Bosso, Emanuele Cisi, Andrea Pozza, Enzo Zirilli, Andrea Dulbecco, U.T. Gandhi, Paolo Damiani, Flavio Boltro, Gabriele Mirabassi, Tino Tracanna, among others.

Since 2006 he has released 8 albums as a leader and composer, winning many awards, with important feedbacks from audiences and international critics. There are dozens of his appearances as a sideman on as many albums. In 2008 he founded with other musicians the Count Basie Jazz Club in Genoa, and since 2010 he has been a jazz teacher in many Italian Conservatories.


less

Press

Play album Play album
01.
Where Do We Belong?
06:28
(Massimiliano Rolff) Massimiliano Rolff, Hector Martignon, Mario Principato, Ruben Bellavia, David Pastor, Gianpiero Lo Bello, Gianni Virone, Humberto Amesquita, Roberto Piga, Laura Sillitti, Daniele Guerci, Arianna Menesini
02.
Capo Noli
06:10
(Massimiliano Rolff) Massimiliano Rolff, Hector Martignon, Mario Principato, Ruben Bellavia, David Pastor, Gianpiero Lo Bello, Gianni Virone, Humberto Amesquita, Roberto Piga, Laura Sillitti, Daniele Guerci, Arianna Menesini
03.
La luz de Abril
05:00
(Massimiliano Rolff) Massimiliano Rolff, Hector Martignon, Mario Principato, Ruben Bellavia, David Pastor, Gianpiero Lo Bello, Gianni Virone, Humberto Amesquita, Roberto Piga, Laura Sillitti, Daniele Guerci, Arianna Menesini
04.
Dance Now
05:56
(Massimiliano Rolff) Massimiliano Rolff, Hector Martignon, Mario Principato, Ruben Bellavia, David Pastor, Gianpiero Lo Bello, Gianni Virone, Humberto Amesquita, Roberto Piga, Laura Sillitti, Daniele Guerci, Arianna Menesini
05.
La tua canzone
04:44
(Massimiliano Rolff) Massimiliano Rolff, Hector Martignon, Mario Principato, Ruben Bellavia, David Pastor, Gianpiero Lo Bello, Gianni Virone, Humberto Amesquita, Roberto Piga, Laura Sillitti, Daniele Guerci, Arianna Menesini
06.
Radici
07:11
(Massimiliano Rolff) Massimiliano Rolff, Hector Martignon, Mario Principato, Ruben Bellavia, David Pastor, Gianpiero Lo Bello, Gianni Virone, Humberto Amesquita, Roberto Piga, Laura Sillitti, Daniele Guerci, Arianna Menesini
07.
Away
05:39
(Massimiliano Rolff) Massimiliano Rolff, Hector Martignon, Mario Principato, Ruben Bellavia, David Pastor, Gianpiero Lo Bello, Gianni Virone, Humberto Amesquita, Roberto Piga, Laura Sillitti, Daniele Guerci, Arianna Menesini
08.
Mediterraneo Chant
06:42
(Massimiliano Rolff) Massimiliano Rolff, Hector Martignon, Mario Principato, Ruben Bellavia, David Pastor, Gianpiero Lo Bello, Gianni Virone, Humberto Amesquita, Roberto Piga, Laura Sillitti, Daniele Guerci, Arianna Menesini
09.
Folks
06:29
(Massimiliano Rolff) Massimiliano Rolff, Hector Martignon, Mario Principato, Ruben Bellavia, David Pastor, Gianpiero Lo Bello, Gianni Virone, Humberto Amesquita, Roberto Piga, Laura Sillitti, Daniele Guerci, Arianna Menesini
10.
Magia
04:46
(Massimiliano Rolff) Massimiliano Rolff, Hector Martignon, Mario Principato, Ruben Bellavia, David Pastor, Gianpiero Lo Bello, Gianni Virone, Humberto Amesquita, Roberto Piga, Laura Sillitti, Daniele Guerci, Arianna Menesini
11.
Semplice (The New Year Song)
05:07
(Massimiliano Rolff) Massimiliano Rolff, Hector Martignon, Mario Principato, Ruben Bellavia, David Pastor, Gianpiero Lo Bello, Gianni Virone, Humberto Amesquita, Roberto Piga, Laura Sillitti, Daniele Guerci, Arianna Menesini
show all tracks

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