Jazz Articles about Nicoló Ricci

About Nicoló Ricci

Album Review

Lagos-based Etuk Ubong is part of a long line of fiery, Afrobeat-rooted, hard bop-influenced trumpeters which stretches back to Tunde Williams, who was in the 1960s a founder member of Fela Kuti's seminal band, Africa 70. Kuti's legacy figures large in Ubong's music, which he styles “earth music" and which is characterised by urgent tempos, powerful horn charts and highly charged socio-political lyrics. Ubong made his own-name debut in 2017, when he released Tales Of Life (Jazzagression). ...

Album Review

Etuk Ubong: Purpose Of Creation / Etuk's Ritual

Read "Purpose Of Creation / Etuk's Ritual" reviewed by Chris May

by Chris May
April 18, 2020

Lagos-based Etuk Ubong is part of a long line of fiery Afrobeat-rooted trumpeters which stretches back to Tunde Williams, a founder member of Fela Kuti's Africa 70 band in the 1960s. The lineage's foundational provenance is centred around players such as Lee Morgan and early period Freddie Hubbard. Ubong made his own-name debut in 2017, when he released the quartet album Tales Of Life (Jazzagression), an excellent post-hard bop outing which made little impact outside Nigeria. At the ...

Album Review

Nicoló Ricci: Pulcino

Read "Pulcino" reviewed by Nicholas F. Mondello

by Nicholas F. Mondello
May 22, 2019

With Pulcino saxophonist Nicoló Ricci bravely sets off on a musical excursion with only bassist Giuseppe Romagnoli and drummer Andreu Pitarch along for the adventure. The result is a fascinating portrait of an artist and players willing to forego the keyboard's harmonic support and cast improvisational fate to their own superior creativity. “The Superflourescent Boy" has Ricci and team exploring a brief theme and subsequently moving into a varying-tempoed, swingingly playful track. Ricci's inventiveness, egged on by ...

Album Review

Nicoló Ricci: Pulcino

Read "Pulcino" reviewed by Geno Thackara

by Geno Thackara
March 29, 2019

It takes a confident saxophonist to step out in the classic trio format--no chordal instrument or frontline partner to share the load, just a strong trust in one's own skill and the backing of his bandmates. There's no one to hide behind, and everything is out in the figurative spotlight even when all three are sharing the load. For the Nicolò Ricci Trio, the setting isn't an intimidating one, but stimulating and full of possibilities. Their skill and chemistry are ...