Sebi Tramontana: Unfolding To Be You

This solo trombone recording by Sebi Tramontana could be called a master class if it wasn't such an intimate and personal experience. The Sicilian-born trombonist known for his work in the Italian Instabile Orchestra, the Georg Graewe Quintet, Pipeline 8, and free improvised duos with everyone from Frank Gratkowski to Giovanni Maier, Jeb Bishop and Joëlle Léandre, has a long history performing solo. For more than 30 years now, Tramontana has applied his idiosyncratic solo sound to performances much like those of Jaap Blonk (voice), Mats Gustafsson (saxophone), and Paul Lovens (drums).

With Unfolding To Be You he delivers fifteen musical sketches from the 30 seconds of release "Siparietto" to the 8 and a half minutes of the title track, where he patiently works and reworks his musical concept as if he were kneading bread dough. Tramontana's approach melds his instrument with voice, and to be more precise, he consolidates the trombone with his body. He spits multi-phonics along with his own vocalizations. The trombone is attached to his lips to create notes, but he also speaks through his mouthpiece, creating breathy sounds. He backs away to whistle, cough, and with his cover of "Nicht Müde Werden" performs the melody as a duet between horn and voice. He can wax nostalgic with Ravel's "L'enfant et Le Sortilège" or create the sound of a musical saw on "Squeeze Me," but he never exhausts his imagination. Much like Sven-Åke Johansson, he sings "This Is My Morning Song (al final del día)" not as if he were on stage, but alone in the woods. His voice and trombone invite you to become close friends.