Jazz Articles about Stefano Maltese
Stefano Maltese Open Sound Ensemble: A World Apart
by AAJ Italy Staff
Malgrado la creazione di un'etichetta discografica ad hoc, Labirinti Sonori, che raccoglie l'eredità dell'omonima rassegna curata a cavallo fra anni Novanta e Duemila dalla coppia Stefano Maltese - Gioconda Cilio, rari rimangono i lavori prodotti dai due artisti siracusani (Maltese d'adozione) sempre pubblicati - di conseguenza - dopo adeguata gestazione. Ciò non può che riverberarsi positivamente, a cose fatte, sulla qualità delle incisioni, come quest'ultima (giugno/luglio 2012) prontamente conferma. L'Open Sound Ensemble, attivo ormai da più di vent'anni, ha cambiato ...
read moreStefano Maltese As Sikilli: This Floating Space Suite
by AAJ Italy Staff
Vede la luce dopo sei anni questo lavoro di Stefano Maltese e del suo As Sikilli, registrato dal vivo presso la sala A del Centro di Produzione Radio di Roma (noi c'eravamo). Poco importa: la musica del polistrumentista siciliano è senza tempo, registrata ora o chissà quando mantiene intatta la sua freschezza e originalità. Il marchio di fabbrica che Maltese è riuscito a imprimere alla sua musica c'è tutto. Una musica policroma, sfrangiata, ponte tra Occidente e Oriente, che riesce ...
read moreStefano Maltese (Musica Jazz: Open Letter to Mingus
by Ernesto De Pascale
Two decades following the death of Charles Mingus, his musical legacy is more alive than ever. Stefano Maltese's Open Music Orchestra adds its reflections with Open Letter To Mingus, a personal tribute to one of the greatest composers of the 20th century. It is an exceptional appreciation and notable for the enduring strength of such Mingus conceptions as “Pithecantropus Erectus," “ Peggy 's Blue Skylight," “Duke Ellington's Sound Of Love," “Wednesday Night Prayer Meeting" and “Eclipse." Maltese's well-rehearsed and finely ...
read moreStefano Maltese and Open Sound Ensemble: Living Alive
by Robert Spencer
Stefano Maltese is an accomplished Italian saxophonist who recorded a marvelous album in 1995, Double Mirror, featuring the “free music" giants Evan Parker and Keith Tippett. This time around he takes up soprano sax, alto sax, and (in a new addition) bass clarinet, but the rest of the instrumentation is rather more unusual: he's joined by the formidable bassist Paul Rogers (credited here with playing a “5-string bass"), pianist Sophia Domancich, and the world-class percussionist Antonio Moncada, along with French ...
read moreStefano Maltese Open Sound Ensemble: Living Alive
by Glenn Astarita
“Living Alive” conveys heartfelt sentiment, depth and generous doses of free-improvisational dialogue; although, the compositions tend to be rhythmically structured and compositionally cohesive. Saxophonist Stefano Maltese and his “Open Sound Ensemble” create moody, dreamlike passages that often stimulate and divert the listener’s imagination which is noticeably evident on the opening cut, “Words-Two Colours”. At 19 minutes, “Words-Two Colours” finds Maltese and associates creating open soundscapes featuring gradually converging thematic statements and vivid pastiches of tonal sound coloration. Pianist Sophia Domancich ...
read moreStefano Maltese as Sikilli Ensemble: Seven Tracks for Tomorrow
by AAJ Staff
From Europe in the ‘Seventies came two types of music, each labeled “progressive”. One kind described Yes and Genesis; this was later called “art rock”. The other utilized violins, woodwinds, and other things rarely used in pop vocals. These groups, with names like Art Zoyd, Henry Cow, and Univers Zero, are hardly famous, but their sound is remembered. Stefano Maltese takes many elements of this sound (shifting moods, stylized vocals), and adds jazz touches for a blend you will find ...
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