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Sergio Armaroli / Francesca Gemmo / Barry Guy: At Sotto Il Mare First Visit
by John Sharpe
Deep hinterlands distinguish the three protagonists on this exceptionally simpatico date and imbue it with a sharpened sense of purpose. You might call it freely improvised, but as the liner notes reveal, unplanned might be a better descriptor. Italian vibraphonist Sergio Armaroli, who seems to be the principal mover, reportedly gave short verbal instructions before the music began. And while his exact words are not provided, they may account for the cohesion of what follows. Or perhaps not. Practiced improvisers, ...
Continue ReadingSergio Armaroli Quintet: Follow A Very Heavy Person
by Mark Corroto
Time, as a concept, transforms into an endless playground in the hands of Sergio Armaroli. In Follow A Very Heavy Person, the quintet expands upon the foundations laid in Introducing A Very Heavy Person, delving deeper into the sonic and philosophical dimensions of John Cage and Kenneth Patchen's 1942 experimental radio play, The City Wears A Slouch Hat. Emerging from the same recording session, this second volume extends and reinvents its predecessor's exploration of simultaneity, improvisation and the ephemeral nature ...
Continue ReadingSergio Armaroli: Introducing A Very Heavy Person, First Visit
by Mark Corroto
If you reject the assumption that time is linear, the ability to conceive of a time machine is simple. Assume for this discussion that the concepts of past, present, and future are a false dichotomy. In other words, the past and the future simultaneously occur with the present. Composer and percussionist Sergio Armaroli accepts this premise and his quintet accomplishes a rather time-less travel through twelve tracks. Let's back up a bit. In his career, Armaroli has been ...
Continue ReadingSergio Armaroli, Evan Parker: Dialog
by Neri Pollastri
Album molto singolare, questo di Sergio Armaroli e Evan Parker: pensato inizialmente come improvvisazione dal vivo da registrare in studio durante la prevista tournée italiana 2022 del sassofonista britannico, trasformatosi poi in duetto a distanza dopo la cancellazione della sua trasferta, si è alla fine concretizzato come un call and response, visto che Parker non si trovava a proprio agio nel dialogo diretto a distanza. Così, Armaroli ha registrato sei brani improvvisati al vibrafono e li ha inviati all'amico inglese, ...
Continue ReadingSergio Armaroli: I Dream I Was An European
by Neri Pollastri
Un disco a suo modo “perfetto," questo di Sergio Armaroli, che si circonda di abituali e splendidi collaboratori come Giancarlo Schiaffini e Roger Turner, vi aggiunge un monumento dell'improvvisazione come Phil Minton, e con loro esegue nove sue composizioni nelle quali l'improvvisazione la fa da padrona. La “perfezione" sta soprattutto nelle individualità, anzi nei colori e nelle espressività che ciascuna di esse porta in dote: due percussioni timbricamente opposte e dalle invenzioni complementari, il vibrafono di Armaroli e ...
Continue ReadingSergio Armaroli & Evan Parker: Dialog
by John Eyles
In 2022, Italian-born vibraphonist Sergio Armaroli and British-born saxophonist Evan Parker were scheduled to tour Italy together, and go into a recording studio together to record a set of freely improvised music in real time. However, the plan fell apart because Parker became unable to leave Britain (maybe for Covid-related reasons?) Although Parker cancelled the tour and the recording session, Armaroli was keen to consider alternatives. At the time, technology did not allow musicians in distant locations to record together ...
Continue ReadingSergio Armaroli & Evan Parker: Dialog
by Chris May
Sergio Armaroli and Evan Parker's collaboration on Dialog was made possible by state-of-the-art 2022 digital technology, on which it was wholly reliant. But the structure of the music itself--call and response a.k.a. antiphony--predates the digital era by an unknown number of millennia. Located in different studios hundreds of miles apart, on different days, the two players used file-sharing to engage in what is, if not the oldest form of music making, then almost certainly the second oldest. One day in ...
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