This is an album of songs I have written starting from the year 2000. "Monk Walked In" and "Seeking" were on my first album, which I recorded in 2000 at my parents' house in Roccasecca, with me on piano and my friend Luca Pisani on double bass. Back then, with my friend Marco Chiummiento, we used my PC and a Soundblaster-compatible card for the recording. God only knows what microphones we used and how they got into the PCI audio card.
The songs
Anyway, I wanted to write a few words about the songs. "Monk Walked In" is obviously dedicated to Thelonious Monk, a musician who has always inspired me enormously. Every time I sit at the piano I end up playing his tunes, and every time I end up playing the head without improvising, because his compositions are so perfect that any melody other than the original feels like an insult to the ears.
"Vals Para Amparo" is dedicated to my Mexican partner Amparo. It's a waltz in a minor key, which doesn't really suit Amparo's spirit: she is a sunny person and an inexhaustible source of energy. I keep promising myself I'll dedicate a more Latin song to her, maybe a salsa, a mambo. I'm studying some montuno for that purpose.
"Blue No" is a blues, which is one of the standard forms in Jazz. It's in the be-bop tradition and is dedicated to the great Marco Panascia, an incredible electric and upright bass player. The title comes from a photo of him at the famous "Blue Note" in New York, where he partially covers the club's logo so that all you can read is "Blue No". This made me laugh a lot. If it doesn't make you laugh... oh well.
"Seeking" is a very, very corny ballad that was on the first album I mentioned at the beginning. I tried to use a slightly more original arrangement than the one on the first album.
"Season One" was originally called "Some People Are Just Meant To Be Left Alone", which felt too long and depressing, so I changed it; after all, Jazz titles don't have to mean anything. It's a tune I wrote in 2019, when I was a student at Scuola Percentomusica. Since at the time all my friends referred to me as "the guy who plays be-bop", out of spite I wanted to try writing a piece a bit more in the style of Wayne Shorter, with chords that don't necessarily move according to the rules of be-bop harmony. I don't know if I pulled it off, but I remember that one day I brought the backing track and the lead sheet to Maestro Massimo Moriconi at school and he played over it for a good ten minutes, which seemed like a good sign at the time.
"Conspiracy Interlude" is a piano version of a part I had written as the closing section of a piece meant for my friend Camilla Sperati. Go listen to her album Moonrise, it's really good and I even play some keyboard bits on it.
"You Grew In My Heart" is a song in the style of Rodgers and Hart, and it has its own lyrics, which you can find in the score below. It was originally in 4/4 but then I decided a 3/4 arrangement worked better, maybe.
"Standard Procedure" is a "Rhythm Changes", which along with the Blues is a form used all the time in Jazz as a vehicle for improvisation. "Rhythm Changes" are called that because they are based on the chords of Gershwin's "I've Got Rhythm". As often happens to me, I realized I had copied a riff from "Eternal Triangle", which is a very fun be-bop tune.
"Oh My Lord" is a Gospel-inspired thing. This one has lyrics too, which you can find in the score below and which I didn't dare sing, to spare your ears, but it would be nice to hear it sung by a real Gospel choir.
Technical notes
The only technically noteworthy thing on this album is the use of the Marcustico bass, which is an incredible instrument made to order by Joaquin Marco, a Spanish luthier. Anyone who knows the instrument will know it is inextricably associated with Maestro Dario Deidda. To me, Dario is a musical superhero, someone who competes in a league of his own where, as far as I'm concerned, there's him and nobody else. I always feel embarrassed when I publish something where I play this instrument, because the comparison with the Maestro is merciless. But I also know Dario is a humble man and he will forgive me.
Lead sheets
Here are the lead sheets for the album's tunes, in PDF and MuseScore format:
- Monk Walked In: PDF · MuseScore
- Vals Para Amparo: PDF · MuseScore
- Blue No: PDF · MuseScore
- Seeking: PDF · MuseScore
- Season One: PDF · MuseScore
- Conspiracy Interlude: PDF · MuseScore
- You Grew In My Heart: PDF · MuseScore
- Standard Procedure: PDF · MuseScore
- Oh My Lord: PDF · MuseScore