Mattia Basilico: On The Edge

Mattia Basilico is an Italian saxophonist who proudly wears his influences on his sleeve. He and his quartet set out to explore the jazz tradition while injecting a contemporary feel. The group comprising pianist Alessio Pagliero, double bassist Carlo Bavetta and drummer Bernardo Guerra, brings a fresh perspective to compositions by John Coltrane, Cedar Walton, Thelonious Monk, David Hazeltine, Ornette Coleman and Jimmy Van Heusen, using them as a platform for interaction, carefully shaped arrangements and new expressive directions.

On The Edge opens with Coltrane's "Song of Praise." The band's arrangement underscores the music's spiritual direction while reshaping the piece as a minor blues. A swirling introduction gradually focuses as Basilico's saxophone emerges; bass and drums add drive before the intensity builds through piano and soaring saxophone, ultimately releasing and fragmenting after Bavetta's bass solo. The Latin rhythms of Walton's "Ojos de Rojo" reveal the band's energy; their interplay through the sections is highly cohesive, and while Basilico's high-speed soloing occasionally prioritizes speed over expression, it showcases his remarkable technique.

There's a comforting vintage feel to the arrangement of "Teo." Monk's compositional unpredictability offers the quartet freedom for expression and exploration. Basilico and Pagliero take full advantage. Contrast comes from Van Heusen's familiar standard, "All The Way," which the band handles in exemplary fashion, with Bavetta and Guerra adding subtle colorings in response to saxophone and piano.

Coleman's "When Will the Blues Leave" is a pleasure, the band excelling individually and collectively as the track builds through fine solos, combinations, call-and-response and a fluid groove. "Eddie Harris," unsurprisingly a tribute to saxophonist Eddie Harris, written by David Hazeltine, closes the album. It soon settles into the groove essential to Harris's work, Basilico building a superb solo followed by more excellent work from Pagliero, with Guerra using the groove to close out the track in fine fashion.

Listeners may find that On The Edge is one of those albums that improves with every listen. It remembers where the music came from and explores that tradition using melodic passages, improvisation and driving rhythms, bringing out the quartet's collective voice alongside some excellent individual performances.