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Sergio Armaroli
Album Review
Pierre Favre: The Art of Sound(s)
by Neri Pollastri
Un incontro tra quattro musicisti legati sia da una comune poetica, l'improvvisazione, sia da forti e duraturi legami, che avviene nella terra d'origine di uno di loro --il Friuli di Andrea Centazzo--ma si avvale del cosmopolitismo di tutti quanti: le origini francesi e l'internazionalismo di Pierre Favre, che di Centazzo fu il primo maestro; il respiro europeo di Francesca Gemmo; quello americano, via Cage, di Sergio Armaroli; l'esperienza statunitense dello stesso Centazzo. Un incontro all'insegna delle percussioni, perché ...
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Sergio Armaroli: Introducing A Very Heavy Person, First Visit
by Neri Pollastri
Sulla scorta del suo amore e dei suoi studi su John Cage, Sergio Armaroli raccoglie attorno a sé un quintetto di straordinari musicisti per ricreare (non sapremmo in quale altro modo definire questa che è ben più di una rilettura) uno spettacolo radiofonico che il visionario musicista statunitense mandò in onda il 31 maggio 1942, musicando il radiodramma di Kenneth Patchen The City Wears a Slouch Hat. All'epoca Cage illustrò le scene del radiodramma --una serie di incontri ...
Continue ReadingSergio Armaroli: The Musical Omnivore
by Mark Corroto
Sergio Armaroli is an Italian composer, percussionist, vibraphonist, teacher and visual artist whose music can be found on multiple labels including ezz-thetics, Leo Records, Dodicilune, Ictus Records and Da Vinci Classics. His 2025 releases include Deconstructing Ayler In The Universe (Dodicilune), And I Entered Into Sleep (Die Schachtel), and the ezz-thetics discs Introducing A Very Heavy Person First Visit, Follow A Very Heavy Person First Visit, At Sotto Il Mare First Visit and The Art Of Sound(s). Because ...
Continue ReadingPierre Favre & Sergio Armaroli, Andrea Centazzo, Francesca Gemmo: The Art Of Sound(s)
by Mark Corroto
It would not be prudent to overlook history when considering the music created by the improvising artists of The Art of Sound(s). As William Shakespeare wrote in The Tempest: “By that destiny to perform an act / Whereof what's past is prologue, what to come in yours and my discharge." In other words, this 2024 recording could not exist without the accumulated experiences and creative legacies of its four musicians. At the center stands Swiss drummer Pierre Favre, ...
Continue ReadingSergio 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 ...
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