Giorgio Pacorig & Stefano Giust: Così com’è

The sporting equivalent of Giorgio Pacorig and Stefano Giust's Così Com'è ("that's how it is") might be tennis. Their game is a friendly back-and-forth rendezvous instead of a competition that can only be accomplished by two musicians who have worked (a better word would be played) together for more than two decades. Pacorig's piano and Giust's drums can be heard in the Mahakaruna Quartet, the Setoladimaiale Unit, the Aghe Clope quartet and ensemble, plus various other jazz and improvising units.

This is the first time documenting the pair in a duo performance. Listening to Così Com'è, one may ask what took so long. Their musical conversation, captured with these three improvisations, is banter between friends, chock full of sallies and good-natured repartee. At nearly 30 minutes, the opening "Guardavi la boa, era il mare" ("You looked at the buoy, it was the sea') saunters with Pacorig's piano in dialogue with Giust's brushwork. The pair stroll then scamper, increasing the pace to investigate new sounds. With their discovery in hand, they slow to document their find, each with their own impressions. Pacorig might ping the insides of his piano or focus on a rapid keyboard attack, along with Giust's affirmations via cymbals and skins. The drummer eschews an overt pulse, but like Paul Motian, he maintains, by sleight of hand, a forward propulsion throughout.

"Memorie di amicizie e rugiada" ("Memories of friendships and dew") opens with less structure but manifests more intensity. Here, and with "Radici per le foglie, ferro" ("Roots for leaves, iron"), Pacorig and Guist demonstrate what a familiar duo can accomplish. They stitch together a fully formed-finished document from minimal threads.