Piero Odorici: Estate

Jazz is a great gift provided the world by the United States. The music's humble beginnings have been traced to late 19th Century New Orleans and can now be found ubiquitously around the globe. Italy has always been a hotbed of jazz since the Second World War, providing the market many fine musicians, including Giovanni Tommaso, Massimo Urbani, and Fabrizio Bosso. Add to this list tenor saxophonist Piero Odorici with his new live recording, Estate.

Odorici was born in Riola (Bologna Region) in 1962. He took up saxophone at age 10. Following his formal music education, Odorici went on to perform with such international artists as Jimmy Cobb, George Cables, Cedar Walton, Billy Higgins, Red Rodney, Lee Konitz, Joe Lovano, and Steve Lacy. In his native Italy, Odorici has performed with Roberto Gatto, Massimo Urbani, Salvatore Bonafede, Dado Moroni, and Luigi Bonafede.

Estate is vintage hard bop with Odorici's playing having a horizontal astuteness, a Dexter Gordon muscular tone, and a thoughtful Stan Getz lyricism, albeit with a bit of an edge. Odorici sets the disc's tone with the Lobo Guerra composition "Reza." He plays straightforward, as does his quintet, until the interior, when pianist Marcello Tonolo's solo leads the band through that beautifully free rambunctiousness given us by Miles Davis' second great quintet. The title track is a ballad plaintively introduced by guitarist Sandro Gibellini and played beautifully by Odorici. Jimmy Heath?s "Ginger Bread Boy" is a fun romp with Odorici and Tonolo mirroring and bassist Marco Micheli soloing effectively. "Limehouse Blues" is taken straight and the closer, "I Thought About You" illustrates Odorici?s mastery of understatement through using melody fragments spun together to create a whole new sound.

The disc's sonics are excellent, considering its live source. The recording's spontaneity is immediate, with solos effectively positioned in front. Odorici readily compares to the muscular tenors of the late 1950s-early 1960s. His tone is virile without being testosterone-laden and his performance intelligent without being overly analytical. In short, Piero Odorici performs with heart and does so effectively. This is a full-bodied tenor outing by a rising star.

Visit Piero Odorici and and North Country Distributors on the web; contact Red Records .