Carlo Actis Dato

Carlo Actis Dato, Enzo Rocco: Noise from the Neighbours

by Alberto Bazzurro
December 23, 2016

Alla vigilia del ventennale dalla sua costituzione, il duo composto da Carlo Actis Dato ed Enzo Rocco pubblica il suo quarto album, inciso dal vivo lo scorso 6 febbraio in quel di Castelleone, a una decina di chilometri da Crema, dove Rocco è nato cinquantatré anni fa. Il disco non fa che confermare le coordinate del miniensemble, sulla cui linea stilistica l'estetica di Actis Dato, largamente collaudata da ormai una trentina d'anni--in particolare--di quartetto, prevale (diremmo imperversa) in ...

Actis Dato Quartet: World Tour

by Jerry D'Souza
December 22, 2009

Carlo Actis Dato has had a long and colorful career, both with his own groups and as part of notable Italian bands, most importantly the Italian Instabile Orchestra and Pino Minafra Sud Ensemble. As a composer he imbibes the music and sounds he hears on his world travels, adding flavor to his compositions. Playing tenor and baritone saxophones and bass clarinet, Actis Dato's art is manifested in the many recordings he has made, from solo outings to leading the nonet ...

Actis Furioso - 2: World People

by Jerry D'Souza
October 25, 2008

Carlo Actis Dato is a restless spirit. The composer, arranger and virtuoso of the baritone saxophone and bass clarinet is a traveler who picks up music and all of its nuances from different parts of the world. He brings this to bear in his compositions as he adds his unique vision and imagination to open a wide panorama filled with startling motifs and dynamics. Invention and surprise are the cogs around which he spins his web, drawing the listener into ...

Actis Band: Cina!

by Jerry D'Souza
September 18, 2007

Sax and clarinetist Carlo Actis Dato has shown an uncanny ability to keep his ear to the ground and pick up the music of the several countries to which he has traveled. His music is happy, gentle, edgy and energetic; evocative of the land that inspired them. He also has the knack for writing memorable melodies from which he and his band spring forward with a bag of engaging ideas.

The band members have been together for a long time ...

Carlo Actis Dato & Musique Vivante: Dolce Vita?

by Jerry D'Souza
June 4, 2006

Carlo Actis Dato is always looking for the unusual. As he travels across the world, he absorbs the sounds of the various countries and brings them into his compositions. But Actis Dato does not let it rest there. When he writes, he has a certain configuration in mind, which could range from a solo performance to a big band. In the case of this two-disc release, it's a new quintet--the second one in his canon after the Actis Band.

There ...

Carlo Actis Dato & Baldo Martinez: Folklore Imaginario

by Jerry D'Souza
August 5, 2005

Communication is a bridge. Carlo Actis Dato and Baldo Martinez build one that is supple and sways tantalizingly to the impulses of their imagination. Both are visionaries who can envisage the distant and head for it. Their path is not a straight one, though, for that would be predictable and boring. They change pace and direction, one leading the other and then waiting to move in tandem before the role of leader is switched. They define movement and direction on ...

Carlo Actis Dato: The Moonwalker

by AAJ Staff
May 1, 2001

Never one to be longwinded about his ideas, Carlo Actis Dato dashes off twenty quickies on The Moonwalker. Only one of these solo tunes is longer than four minutes; the rest hover in the range where short attention spans stay satisfied. Typically clever and quick-witted, Dato isn't above making fun of himself (as he does with a vocal interchange at the conclusion of “Banda Sbandata," which ends in what can only be described as a last gasp).

Dato has led ...