Two First Visits From ezz-thetics

So far, ezz-thetics' label First Visit (motto: First Visit archive offers previously unreleased recordings of historic and musical importance) has lived up to expectations with historic recordings from Cecil Taylor (two albums), Anthony Braxton, Albert Ayler (two) and Steve Lacy making the juices of classic jazz fans flow.

Interspersed with such treasures have been recordings like Live Amsterdam 2006 which was recorded by pianist Ran Blake and electric guitarist Dave Knife Fabris at the Bimhaus in Amsterdam in April 2006 and then shelved for years until it was issued on First Visit in 2024. Similarly, Kon Takte by pianist Judith Wegmann, percussionist Jens Ruland and Robert Torche on electronics, recorded at Hardstudios in August 2023, was seeing daylight for the very first time when released on First Visit. The two albums below join the latter category.

Sergio Armaroli, Francesca Gemmo, Barry Guy
At Sotto Il Mare
ezz-thetics
2024

This album represents the first time that the Italian duo of vibraphonist Sergio Armaroli and pianist Francesca Gemmo have joined forces with the renowned London-born bassist Barry Guy. The Italian pair first recorded together as far back as 2017 when they recorded the album Luc Ferrari Exercises D'Improvisation in a quartet. More relevant here is that they also recorded together in another quartet on the album Prismo (ezz-thetics, 2020) which was released under Armaroli's name.

The album At Sotto II Mare is jointly credited to all three players and the album's twelve tracks are all jointly credited to all three, a tell-tale sign that the album's music was freely improvised. Although it is immediately clear that the music was improvised, at times it sounds as if it could have been scored, so tight are the three players that they fit together like pieces of a jigsaw, with no one leading the way but all of them following the collective path. With the piano and vibraphone following similar paths, it is easy to call up memories of John Lewis' piano and Milt Jackson's vibes in Modern Jazz Quartet, with Barry Guy filling Percy Heath's role on bass. The album's forty-eight improvised minutes are enthralling throughout, with all three players deserving praise and credit. Simply beautiful.

Lotus Crash
First Visit
ezz-thetics
2024

This album was studio-recorded in February 2023 by a Swiss quartet comprising Marco von Orelli on trumpet, Tommy Meier on tenor saxophone and bass clarinet, Luca Sisera on double bass and Sheldon Suter on drums, all of whom have relatively small and recent discographies, predominantly on the Swiss label ezz-thetics. Entitled Lotus Crash, the quartet's only previous album was released in 2019 on ezz-thetics and featured four compositions by von Orelli and three by Meier as well as Adam Lane's "Spin with the EARth" and Co Steiff's "Five Dark Days." Apart from the personnel, that album did not have much in common with this First Visit album, so admirers of the quartet can safely acquire both. Between its two albums, the quartet became named after its first album—a common phenomenon as illustrated by John Butcher's trio The Contest of Pleasures.

The 2024 album features four compositions by Orelli and four by Meier plus a version of "Fate" by Andrew Cyrille. Throughout the album, as well as tight ensemble playing, Orelli and Meier both demonstrate that they are first-rate soloists, with Sisera and Suter providing excellent support as well as occasional solos of their own. Unsurprisingly, the quartet's instrumentation and absence of a piano have attracted comparisons with Ornette Coleman's quartet with Don Cherry. While that is not 100% true, one feels that tracks from this album might one day trip someone up in a blindfold test. Until then, this album seems destined to provide countless hours of pleasure to a broad range of jazz lovers young and old.

Tracks and Personnel

At Sotto Il Mare

Tracks: Prelude; At Sotto Il Mare—First Movement; Intertwining; Different Plans; Interlude Between I, I Vibraphone Solo; Interlude Between II, I Piano Solo; Interlude Between III, I Double Bass Solo; Duet One -...Timeless; Duet Two -...In Dialog; Intertwining II; At Sotto II Mare—Second Movement; At Sotto II Mare—Third Movement.

Personnel: Sergio Armaroli: vibraphone; Francesca Gemmo: piano; Barry Guy: double bass.

First Visit

Tracks: Marsala's Strandgut; Desert Bird; Totem; Ogoni; Before And The Ghost Dance; Fate; The Forest People; Split Master; She Always Takes Us Back.

Personnel: Lotus Crash:-Marco von OSergio relli: trumpet; Tommy Meier: tenor saxophone, bass clarinet; Luca Sisera: double bass; Sheldon Suter: drums.

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