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Enrico Pieranunzi: Special Encounter / Play Morricone
by Ken Dryden
It's not surprising that Enrico Pieranunzi is one of the busiest jazz pianists in Europe. On two new albums, he's joined by two separate and very different American rhythm sections.
Enrico Pieranunzi Special Encounter CamJazz 2005
Most of Special Encounter is ballad-oriented, beginning with a pair of decades-old standards. Rarely has “My Old Flame been performed so deliberately, with bassist Charlie Haden and drummer Paul Motian playing very spaciously in support of ...
Continue ReadingEnrico Pieranunzi / Marc Johnson / Joey Baron: Play Morricone
by John Kelman
Sometimes the most unfortunate circumstances can yield surprisingly positive results. Bassist Marc Johnson and drummer Joey Baron were already in Italy in 1984 for the start of a tour with pianist Kenny Drew when Drew's wife became suddenly ill. With Drew returning home to Denmark, Johnson and Baron were left with few options. When pianist Enrico Pieranunzi showed up after receiving a phone call from someone at the club asking if he'd like to play, he found the two in ...
Continue ReadingEnrico Pieranunzi / Marc Johnson / Joey Baron: Play Morricone
by Chris May
Some composers' work is so uniquely and blissfully melodic that a musician need do no more than pick out the top line to induce happiness in the listener. Like Lalique glassware or Ming porcelain, the tune is a thing of beauty complete in itself, capable of standing a lengthy gaze or multiple repetition without any danger of boredom setting in.
At their best, George Gershwin, Cole Porter, and Thelonious Monk are among those who can deliver this simple whammy. Italian ...
Continue ReadingJim Hall/Enrico Pieranunzi: Duologues
by John Kelman
Some would argue that it's human nature to settle into a comfort zone as one gets older. Many people find themselves less interested in new developments, instead listening to the music of their youth, watching movies from the same time, and generally finding it more and more difficult to connect to contemporary things. When that happens to a person who has spent their life in some form of creative pursuit, it's often the kiss of death. If they've built a ...
Continue ReadingEnrico Pieranunzi: Special Encounter
by AAJ Staff
Italian pianist Enrico Pieranunzi drew strong accolades with last year's quintet FelliniJazz (CAM Jazz), though he's been busy making records since the '70s. He returns with the same veteran rhythm section, bassist Charlie Haden and drummer Paul Motian, for this trio Special Encounter. But the two discs are linked in more ways than one, because they were actually recorded during successive Rome studio sessions during March of 2003.
And so it's no surprise that they share many features in common: ...
Continue ReadingEnrico Pieranunzi: Special Encounter
by John Kelman
It's a rare thing when three musicians can really come together, not with the kind of camaraderie and simpatico that evolves from weeks, months, or even years of touring together, but within the context of relatively infrequent meetings in the recording studio. But Italian pianist Enrico Pieranunzi appears to share a clear musical bond with bassist Charlie Haden and drummer Paul Motian, based on the strength of last year's FelliniJazz. Of course, one might argue that the Haden-Motian team has ...
Continue ReadingEnrico Pieranunzi/Paul Motian: Doorways
by Robert R. Calder
A duly celebrated Italian pianist with other recent issues to his name, Enrico Pieranunzi stakes a claim for attention at once in the opening track of Doorways with just Paul Motian's drums in support. As a composer he's fine, but on the whole he doesn't do his own work justice here. “Double Existence I" is well-structured but lacks the satisfying ending of “Double Existence II," which is itself structurally weak. There's a lack of concentration.
Overall the music's edgy, especially ...
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