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Martial Solal: Live at the Village Vanguard: I Can't Give You Anything But Love
by C. Michael Bailey
Martial Solal is a nuclear physicist of the piano. He tinkers with the subatomic structure of compositions, moving elements around, pulling them apart, and smashing them together in ways that both surprise and delight. Solal was born Algiers in 1927, settling in Paris in 1950 where he worked with Django Reinhardt and American expatriates Sidney Bechet and Don Byas. He has maintained an impressive creative profile for the past 50 years that involves solo, small group, and big band formats. ...
Continue ReadingMartial Solal Trio: Longitude
by AAJ Italy Staff
Il Gran Maestro del pianismo jazz moderno firma per la Cam l’ennesimo capolavoro della sua lunga straordinaria carriera solistica. Come accade in ogni suo disco, è esemplare la coerenza di una poetica sempre alla ricerca di una precisa identità, qui rivolta ad immergersi nei fitti intrecci ritmici dell’universo percussivo. Alla base vi è il solito pianismo sghembo e frastagliato, che si apre ad un incalzante tappeto sonoro incisivamente ritmico, più che coloristico, ora liricamente suadente, ora insinuante ed avventuroso. Quaranta ...
Continue ReadingMartial Solal Trio: Longitude
by John Kelman
Oftentimes the best free players are those with a firm footing in the jazz tradition. Few have demonstrated as uncanny an ability to straddle the line between form and freedom as Martial Solal, a European pianist who has eluded his due credit in North America. Like the slightly younger Paul Bley, Solal has an ability to take the most well-worn standard and transform it into something new; oftentimes nearly unrecognizable but always engaging and playful. Solal may lean hard to ...
Continue ReadingMartial Solal: Solal Seul
by George Kanzler
Lorraine Gordon has been trying to persuade pianist Martial Solal to return to the Village Vanguard ever since his unfortunately timed debut there, with a trio, in September of 2001, shortly after the 9/11 attacks. Solal, claiming he was too lazy at his age to travel to New York (he was 80 this August, 2007), kept declining the invitation.“But this year, said Solal from his home in France, “I called Lorraine and said I would come to New ...
Continue ReadingMartial Solal: Solitude
by AAJ Italy Staff
Ennesima prova d'autore di Martial Solal, splendido protagonista di un disco meraviglioso in solitudine. Un'opera impressionante per il modo in cui arriva dritta sia al cuore che alla mente del fortunato ascoltatore. Una gemma di perfezione, in cui nulla è fuori posto: tensione emotiva; verve; sapienza armonica; capacità descrittiva, quasi visionaria di aggiungere nuove cellule melodiche agli standard, per irrobustirli con progressioni armoniche inedite. Una riscrittura istantanea elettrizzante quanto imprevedibile; un'opera di pura ricreazione estemporanea che dà molto all'ascoltatore, richiedendo ...
Continue ReadingMartial Solal - Dave Douglas: Rue de Seine
by AAJ Italy Staff
Ancora una perla si aggiunge al vasto catalogo della Cam Jazz, da sempre fautrice di proposte stimolanti nei vari ambiti jazzistici. Maestro riconosciuto del pianismo jazz europeo, Martial Solal è il protagonista di un disco eccelso, in cui riluce tutto il suo immenso talento, ancora una volta al servizio di una brillante progettualità. Al suo fianco troviamo un partner d’eccezione ed oltremodo ispirato nel condividere una musica tanto raffinata quanto coinvolgente negli esiti. Brillante esponente dell’avanguardia bianca newyorkese dell’ultimo decennio, ...
Continue ReadingMartial Solal: NY 1: Live at The Village Vanguard
by Jeff Stockton
Opening night for pianist Martial Solal's rare appearance in New York City was scheduled at the Village Vanguard for September 18, 2001. The show went on, but because the city wasn't too much in the mood for enjoyment, and Solal had had trouble making the flight. That first night he performed standards to a sparse but emotionally hungry audience, as if the familiarity of those selections would serve the moment, musically and psychologically. The beauty and perfection of Solal's playing ...
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