TORINO GUITAR QUARTET


Sei compositori di oggi, di cui due purtroppo scomparsi troppo presto, segnano un programma che trova parecchi punti in comune. La capacità di mescolare con individuale originalità elementi di culture diverse facendoli propri senza tradirli, con molto rispetto dunque, ritorna nel modo in cui sono ulteriormente rielaborati per quattro chitarre non solo senza offesa, ma con la capacità di rivelarne anche qualche nuovo aspetto che sta all’ascoltatore – una volta finito il lavoro del musicista – se mai volesse, rintracciare.
Dusan Bogdanovic, chitarrista come Fripp, ma da lui molto differente, è nato in Jugoslavia nel 1955 e a diciassette anni era il più giovane docente della storia al Conservatorio di Ginevra dove ha studiato composizione, orchestrazione ed esecuzione chitarristica. Strumentista assai dotato, esecutore di alta classe che nel 1977 debuttava alla Carnegie Hall di New York, ha poi passato un lungo periodo di studio delle musiche di altre culture e nel 1984 ha inciso un disco jazz con il maggior flautista della storia della musica africano-americana, James Newton, e uno dei massimi contrabbassisti, Charlie Haden. In seguito, mentre scriveva importanti testi didattici, ha approfondito sempre di più la pratica della composizione scrivendo lavori di notevole interesse per le formazioni e le destinazioni più diverse, dalla musica per danza al quartetto d’archi insieme con naturalmente molti lavori per chitarra, mescolando elementi della musica antica e classica europea, di culture africane e indiane, della tradizione balcanica di famiglia.
Il chitarrista inglese Robert Fripp ha partecipato ventenne alla formazione del gruppo pop King Crimson nel 1969, quando lo scioglimento dei Beatles e l’uscita di Bitches Brew di Miles Davis cambiavano alcuni aspetti del mercato musicale, e con i colleghi ha cercato di avvicinarsi alla musica sperimentale del periodo arrivando a risultati ragguardevoli. Attivi fino al 1974 i King Crimson, che hanno avuto nella prima formazione il chitarrista Greg Lake poi anch’egli di notevole carriera e poco dopo anche il batterista William Bruford oltre a notevoli solisti ospiti, hanno cercato fin dal primo disco, In the Court of Crimson King, un suono nuovo e di sicuro fascino che stemperava però la folgorante aggressività fonica ottenuta in concerto. Le nuove combinazioni timbriche rarefatte e incantate arrivarono dalle chitarre e poi dal mellotron di Fripp che in seguito ha messo a punto altri sistemi di rielaborazione del suono chitarristico, sia con il nastro magnetico nel cosiddetto Frippertronics, sia con apparecchiature digitali nei Soundscapes che anche nella scelta della parola “paesaggi” evocano una ricerca della semplicità ispirata da John Cage.
Armando “Chick” Corea è pianista eccellente al punto di far sembrare troppo facile qualunque cosa faccia. Per questo ne ha provate molte, arrivando a mescolare l’austerità dell’avanguardia con esempi di “fusion” di notevole raffinatezza, la composizione di pezzetti infantili che però mostrano una bella comprensione della musica di Béla Bartók con l’esecuzione di concerti di Mozart fino alla scrittura di un proprio Concerto per pianoforte e orchestra. Seguendo l’esempio del padre si è interessato giovanissimo alle musiche afrolatine e caraibiche, poi ha iniziato una folgorante carriera nel jazz che ha avuto il culmine nelle registrazioni con Miles Davis del 1967-68 e con alcune proprie piccole formazione di idee decisamente innovative, tra cui nei primi anni Settanta Circle con Anthony Braxton, che lo hanno portato a imporsi come uno dei grandi pianisti di oggi. Le tante composizioni di diverso peso, spesso felicemente cantabili, che ha creato fino a ora non sono poi mai state perse, di tanto in tanto ritornano e in orchestrazioni anche decisamente differenti, dichiarando una notevole sapienza d’invenzione.
Il compositore sudafricano Kevin Volans, divenuto intanto cittadino irlandese, ha raggiunto la fama internazionale nel 1986 quando il Kronos Quartet ha commissionato e registrato la versione per quartetto d’archi della sua suite White Man Sleeps che in origine era nata cercando di riportare sul clavicembalo il suono e l’agilità ritmica della m’bira, il “piano a pollici” dello Zimbabwe, mescolando musiche delle popolazioni sudafricane Venda, San, Basotho, Nyungwe con quelle europee barocca e contemporanea. L’aveva creata a Colonia quando era allievo e assistente di Karlheinz Stockhausen e cercava di ripercorrere le musiche del Sud Africa senza passare per gli strumenti elettronici, ma affascinato dal recupero di quelli antichi da parte del Musica Antiqua Köln. Negli ultimi vent’anni Volans ha poi cercato di raggiungere un’espressione sempre più limpida e lineare, provando la cosiddetta “nuova semplicità” e poi affidandosi sempre di più alla ricerca sul “colore” e alla composizione per la danza.
Frank Zappa (1940-1993), che ebbe in comune con Corea le origini italiane e l’immersione curiosa nelle musiche che l’America andava via via inventando, dopo Igor Stravinskij è stato il musicista che ha vissuto con maggiore consapevolezza la varietà del nuovo panorama musicale occidentale nel Novecento. Appassionato di blues e di sperimentazioni come se ne osarono negli Stati Uniti nei primi trent’anni del secolo scorso, ne ha tratto una musica che ha sempre mescolato la forma cantabile del blues e della canzone con sfacciataggini sonore senza pari e un senso incomparabile del teatro misto a una sorta di paterna arte della provocazione buffa. Impegnandosi anche in complesse opere orchestrali registrate da Pierre Boulez, Kent Nagano e dall’Ensemble Modern e ancora oggi eseguite da grandi direttori qual è il compositore Peter Eötvös. Qui trovate due canzoni, delle quali Peaches en Regalia è la sua più celebre, e la sorpresa di scoprire che le sue composizioni anche minime non hanno la necessità, dal punto di vista musicale, dei suoi intrichi folgoranti di suono e della beffa: come per Stravinskij nelle trascrizioni pianistiche, per Zappa invenzione melodica e ingegno ritmico restano intatti e fascinosi anche nel suono lieve e nell’intrico delle quattro chitarre.
Bill Evans (1929-1980) si affermò definitivamente nel 1959 suonando il pianoforte in uno dei capolavori di Miles Davis, Kind Of Blue, ma già pochi mesi prima aveva registrato la propria Peace Piece che è alla base di uno dei pezzi di Davis nel proprio secondo long playing, mentre il referendum annuale di “Down Beat” lo segnalava come miglior nuovo talento del suo strumento. Due anni dopo con una serie di concerti e di dischi dal vivo al Village Vanguard Evans creava il nuovo concetto di trio con pianoforte, contrabbasso e batteria e poco dopo uno stile molto personale di elaborazione solistica del jazz, tranquillo profondo e ritmicamente assai mobile. Straordinario rielaboratore, più che autore, Bill Evans ha imposto al jazz un colore pianistico nuovo, una sorta di calore freddo del suono che insieme all’appassionata austerità del canto, severo e passionale, sognante e anche tragico nel melodizzare, nell’incantevole controllo ritmico partecipa ancora oggi alla formulazione della nuova musica africano-americana.
Michele Mannucci

                                  ---------------------------------------------------

This program is marked by six modern composers with a lot in common, two of them unfortunately passed away before their time. The ability to mix elements from different cultures with a personal approach, taking possession of them without disrespect is here in how they are further reprocessed by four guitars, with the further ability to highlight new aspects; the task of the listener will be that of detecting them, if he/she pleases.
Dusan Bogdanovic, like Fripp a guitarist yet a very different artist, was born in Yugoslavia in 1955; at seventeen he was the youngest ever teacher at the Geneva Conservatory, where he studied composition, orchestration and guitar. A very talented instrumentalist and high-class player, he made his début at New York's Carnegie Hall. Later on he studied music from other cultures and in 1984 he cut a jazz record with one of the most important flautists in the history of Afro-American music, James Newton, and one of the main double-bass players, Charlie Haden. Subsequently, while writing important didactic textbooks, he delved deeper in composition producing very interesting works for the most varied line-ups and targets, from dance music to string quartets, including obviously several guitar works, mixing elements from ancient and classical European music, African and Indian music with his family's Balkan tradition.
The English guitarist Robert Fripp was a founding member of the pop band King Crimson when he was twenty, in 1969, when the Beatles' break-up and the release of Bitches Brew by Miles Davis were changing the music market. With his companions he tried to approach the period's experimental music, achieving excellent results. King Crimson, active until 1974, included in their first line-up Greg Lake as bass player, who would later himself follow a substantial career, and shortly after drummer Bill Bruford, together with notable guest soloists. King Crimson tried right from their first record, In the Court of Crimson King, to achieve a new and fascinating sound that would somehow dilute the dazzling aggressiveness of their live shows. The new rarefied and enchanted timbre combinations came from Fripp's guitars and then from his mellotron. Later he conceived new methods of guitar-sound processing, both by magnetic tape with his so-called Frippertronics and with digital devices in his Soundscapes, which, even in the choice of the "-scape" suffix, refer to a quest for simplicity inspired by John Cage.
Armando “Chick” Corea is an excellent pianist, to the point that anything he does seems too easy. This is why he tried so many things, to the point of mixing avant-garde austerity with very refined jazz fusion samples, the composition of his work "Children Music" that highlights a deep understanding of Béla Bartók with Mozart concerts, up to actually writing a Concerto for piano and orchestra. Following his father's footsteps, as a youngster he explored Afro-Latin and Caribbean music, then got on his way on a striking career in jazz, which reached its apex in his recordings with Miles Davis in 1967-68 and with some small ensembles with strongly innovative ideas, among which Circle with Anthony Braxton, which led him to reach his position as one of today's main pianists. His many compositions of different importance, often happily songlike, were never lost and come back every now and again, even with strongly different orchestrations, showing a notable inventive ability.
The South-African composer Kevin Volans, in the meantime turned into an Irish citizen, reached international fame in 1986 when the Kronos Quartet commissioned and recorded the string-quartet version of his suite White Man Sleeps , originally written to try and bring to the harpsichord the sound and rhythmic agility of the m'bira, the Zimbabwe "thumb piano", mixing musics of the South-African populations Venda, San, Basotho, Nyungwefrom with contemporary and Baroque European music. He wrote it in Cologne, while Karlheinz Stockhausen's student and assistant, trying to process South African music without using electronic instruments and fascinated by the recovery of old ones by Musica Antiqua Köln. In the last twenty years Volans has been trying to reach an increasingly limpid and linear expression, trying out the so-called "New Simplicity", and then delving deeper and deeper in the quest for "colour" and in composing for dance.
Frank Zappa (1940-1993), who shares with Corea his Italian origins and the curious dive in the musical styles that America was continuously inventing, was the musician that, after Igor Stravinskij, experienced with the strongest awareness the variety of the new Western musical scenario of the twentieth century. A lover of blues and experimentations the likes of which were bravely attempted in the first thirty years of the last century in the USA, he created a musical form that always mixed the songlike qualities of blues and pop songs with unequalled sound cheekiness and an incomparable sense for theatrics, mixed with a sort of fatherly attitude towards hilarious provocations. He also engaged in complex orchestral works recorded by Pierre Boulez, Kent Nagano and the Ensemble Modern, still performed by great directors such as composer Peter Eötvös. You will find two of his songs here, among which his most famous Peaches in Regalia, with the surprise that his compositions do not need, from a musical standpoint, his dazzling intricacies of sound and mockery: like Stravinskij in his piano transcriptions, Zappa's melodic invention and rhythmic talent remain unharmed and fascinating even in the four guitars' mild sound and intricacies..
Bill Evans (1929-1980) definitely established himself in 1959 playing the piano in one of Miles Davis' masterpieces, Kind Of Blue, but a few months earlier he had already recorded his Peace Piece, which is the basis for one of Davis' tracks in his second LP, while Down Beat's annual poll ranked him as the best new talent for his instrument. Two years later, with a series of concerts and live records at the Village Vanguard, Evans established the new concept of trio with piano, double bass and drums, and later a very personal style of jazz solo elaboration, deep, tranquil and rhythmically very mobile. An excellent re-processor rather than author, Bill Evans offered jazz a new piano colour, a sort of cold heat of sound that, together with the passionate austerity of his melody, strict and passionate, dreamy and tragic in creating melodies and in the enchanting rhythmic control, is still a part of new Afro-American music.
Michele MannucciThis program is marked by six modern composers with a lot in common, two of them unfortunately passed away before their time. The ability to mix elements from different cultures with a personal approach, taking possession of them without disrespect is here in how they are further reprocessed by four guitars, with the further ability to highlight new aspects; the task of the listener will be that of detecting them, if he/she pleases.
Dusan Bogdanovic, like Fripp a guitarist yet a very different artist, was born in Yugoslavia in 1955; at seventeen he was the youngest ever teacher at the Geneva Conservatory, where he studied composition, orchestration and guitar. A very talented instrumentalist and high-class player, he made his début at New York's Carnegie Hall. Later on he studied music from other cultures and in 1984 he cut a jazz record with one of the most important flautists in the history of Afro-American music, James Newton, and one of the main double-bass players, Charlie Haden. Subsequently, while writing important didactic textbooks, he delved deeper in composition producing very interesting works for the most varied line-ups and targets, from dance music to string quartets, including obviously several guitar works, mixing elements from ancient and classical European music, African and Indian music with his family's Balkan tradition.
The English guitarist Robert Fripp was a founding member of the pop band King Crimson when he was twenty, in 1969, when the Beatles' break-up and the release of Bitches Brew by Miles Davis were changing the music market. With his companions he tried to approach the period's experimental music, achieving excellent results. King Crimson, active until 1974, included in their first line-up Greg Lake as bass player, who would later himself follow a substantial career, and shortly after drummer Bill Bruford, together with notable guest soloists. King Crimson tried right from their first record, In the Court of Crimson King, to achieve a new and fascinating sound that would somehow dilute the dazzling aggressiveness of their live shows. The new rarefied and enchanted timbre combinations came from Fripp's guitars and then from his mellotron. Later he conceived new methods of guitar-sound processing, both by magnetic tape with his so-called Frippertronics and with digital devices in his Soundscapes, which, even in the choice of the "-scape" suffix, refer to a quest for simplicity inspired by John Cage.
Armando “Chick” Corea is an excellent pianist, to the point that anything he does seems too easy. This is why he tried so many things, to the point of mixing avant-garde austerity with very refined jazz fusion samples, the composition of his work "Children Music" that highlights a deep understanding of Béla Bartók with Mozart concerts, up to actually writing a Concerto for piano and orchestra. Following his father's footsteps, as a youngster he explored Afro-Latin and Caribbean music, then got on his way on a striking career in jazz, which reached its apex in his recordings with Miles Davis in 1967-68 and with some small ensembles with strongly innovative ideas, among which Circle with Anthony Braxton, which led him to reach his position as one of today's main pianists. His many compositions of different importance, often happily songlike, were never lost and come back every now and again, even with strongly different orchestrations, showing a notable inventive ability.
The South-African composer Kevin Volans, in the meantime turned into an Irish citizen, reached international fame in 1986 when the Kronos Quartet commissioned and recorded the string-quartet version of his suite White Man Sleeps , originally written to try and bring to the harpsichord the sound and rhythmic agility of the m'bira, the Zimbabwe "thumb piano", mixing musics of the South-African populations Venda, San, Basotho, Nyungwefrom with contemporary and Baroque European music. He wrote it in Cologne, while Karlheinz Stockhausen's student and assistant, trying to process South African music without using electronic instruments and fascinated by the recovery of old ones by Musica Antiqua Köln. In the last twenty years Volans has been trying to reach an increasingly limpid and linear expression, trying out the so-called "New Simplicity", and then delving deeper and deeper in the quest for "colour" and in composing for dance. Frank Zappa (1940-1993), who shares with Corea his Italian origins and the curious dive in the musical styles that America was continuously inventing, was the musician that, after Igor Stravinskij, experienced with the strongest awareness the variety of the new Western musical scenario of the twentieth century. A lover of blues and experimentations the likes of which were bravely attempted in the first thirty years of the last century in the USA, he created a musical form that always mixed the songlike qualities of blues and pop songs with unequalled sound cheekiness and an incomparable sense for theatrics, mixed with a sort of fatherly attitude towards hilarious provocations. He also engaged in complex orchestral works recorded by Pierre Boulez, Kent Nagano and the Ensemble Modern, still performed by great directors such as composer Peter Eötvös. You will find two of his songs here, among which his most famous Peaches in Regalia, with the surprise that his compositions do not need, from a musical standpoint, his dazzling intricacies of sound and mockery: like Stravinskij in his piano transcriptions, Zappa's melodic invention and rhythmic talent remain unharmed and fascinating even in the four guitars' mild sound and intricacies..
Bill Evans (1929-1980) definitely established himself in 1959 playing the piano in one of Miles Davis' masterpieces, Kind Of Blue, but a few months earlier he had already recorded his Peace Piece, which is the basis for one of Davis' tracks in his second LP, while Down Beat's annual poll ranked him as the best new talent for his instrument. Two years later, with a series of concerts and live records at the Village Vanguard, Evans established the new concept of trio with piano, double bass and drums, and later a very personal style of jazz solo elaboration, deep, tranquil and rhythmically very mobile. An excellent re-processor rather than author, Bill Evans offered jazz a new piano colour, a sort of cold heat of sound that, together with the passionate austerity of his melody, strict and passionate, dreamy and tragic in creating melodies and in the enchanting rhythmic control, is still a part of new Afro-American music.
Michele Mannucci

                                  ---------------------------------------------------

Thanks to
Dusan, Manuele, Jan, Michele, Claudio, Ignazio, Francesco, Marina, Gianfranco, Sonia, Luca, Gianna, Grazia, Maria Luisa, Michele, Maria, Luisa, Mauro, Luciana, Flavio, William, Giorgio, Miles, Simona, Angelo, Christian, Babe, Naso, Lilli, Nero.

Guitars by luters:
Mario Garrone, Antonio Marin Montero, Carlo Raspagni

Recorded in August 2009
MAP Studios, Milan
Produced by Massimo Monti
Sound Engineering, Mixing and Digital Editing by Enzo Camporeale
Photos by Manuele Cecconello

Graphics by
© 2009 MAP

Transcriptions and arrangiaments:
‘‘ Discipline’’, ‘‘The Black Page’’ & ‘‘Peaches En Regalia’’ by Christian Saggese
‘‘ White Man Sleeps - First Dance’’ & ‘‘ Piece Piece’’ by Marco Silletti
‘‘Addendum’’ by Alberto Delle Piane

Guitars by
Mario Garrone, Antonio Marin Montero, Carlo Raspagni

Torino Guitar Quartet

Andrea Lanza
Marco Silletti
Alberto Delle Piane
Maria Grazia Reggio

	Introduction and Dance		KING CRIMSON
	01. Introduction - 2’07’’		10. Discipline - 5’33’’
	02. Dance - 3’58’’
			CHICK COREA
	Codex XV323A		11. Addendum - 6’04’’
	“Illit Moïse comme échillon”
	03. Adagio tranquillo - 4’29’’		KEVIN VOLANS
	04. Moderato, molto ritmico - 2’52’’		12. First Dance from “White Man Sleeps” - 4’38’’
	05. Stirfry - 2’42’’
			FRANK ZAPPA’
	LYRIC QUARTET		13. The Black Page - 2’23’’
	06. Rubato, lirico - Moderato ritmico - 2’58’’		14. Peaches en Regalia - 2’23’’
	07. Adagio, lirico - 3’08’’
	08. Con umore - 2’12’’		BILL EVANS
	09. Allegro brillante - 2’44’’		15. Peace Piece 7’45’’

Etichetta NAUSICAA'S GARDEN Catalogo N° NG CD J 0341  Anno 2010

Produzione esecutiva di Massimo Monti Musicisti Associati Produzioni M.A.P. Distribuzione M.A.P.

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