European Jazz Network Conference – Soul Food Special

Every annual edition of the European Jazz Network Conference takes place in one of the many countries in the Old World where the artform is practiced, with a view to celebrating that particular scene as well as debating the issues of the day. Italy took centre-stage this year, and Novara, a city of 105,000 inhabitants in the Piedmont region proved a captivatingly picturesque setting. Few could resist the charms of the cobbled streets, medieval courtyards and il cupola d’Antonelli, a rare feat of architectural grandeur, but there was one moment in the three-day event that really super-sized the imagination. The variation on the Blindfold Test had an audience of over 300 producers, programmers and festival directors rapt as it proved a fascinating way of learning about Italy’s jazz history, all the while getting acquainted with its contemporary practitioners. Devised by the formidable academic Francesco Martinelli, the ‘listening party’ brought together several young artists, including trombonist Filippo Vignato, bassist Andrea Grossi and vocalist Gaia Mattiuzi at the well-appointed Teatro Coccia to lend an ear to figures known and unknown. It was a steep learning curve, which started with the virtuosic 1950s pianist Umberto Cesari and finished with the jaw-dropping 1980s alto-saxophone colossus Massimo Urbani. Along the way there was the highly experimental ensemble Gruppo Improvisazione, featuring none other than a young Ennio Morricone.

The theme of this year’s conference was ‘Feed Your Soul’, and the session certainly refuelled the audience on the stylistic range of Italian jazz, making the point that musicians embraced and personalised post-bop and avant-garde schools, as well as devising a rich vocabulary of film and TV scores. Elsewhere, delegates were stimulated by an excellent keynote speech by Cuban artist Tania Bruguera on the pressing need for politically committed work, especially when she bluntly declared that her next project was Trump, while several showcases of contemporary Italian jazz drew great interest. The aforesaid Vignato led a fine quartet that teased dark, enticing melodies from a fluid rhythmic-harmonic base while Grossi’s Songs And Poems project adapted the verse of Emily Dickinson among others to produce music that had a distinct Taylor-Winstone delicacy. Also interesting was Rosa Brunello, whose Solonude set was solo double-bass enhanced by impassioned vocals, sundry percussion that included bells attached to her wrists and ankles, and a smorgasbord of electronics. It mostly worked well, with the highpoint being a hard-hitting folk rhythm that could have been equal parts Middle Eastern and Mediterranean, to which she sang vigorously, creating an effect that compared favourably to Avishai Cohen.

Indeed, a general observation that can be made about the current generation of Italian jazz musicians is that they are as willing to reflect influences that are non-western as western, and the highly eclectic sound of alto-saxophonist Piero Bittolo Bon was a fine example of this progressive mindset. His group, Bread And Fox, moved coherently between fractious groove and vibrant themes that the leader occasionally distorted by way of a pedal board, fashioning soundscapes that were as enchanting as they were unsettling. Another group that leaned towards atmospheric, mysterioso moods, sometimes with a touch of Björk in the harmony, was the piano-synth-vocal duo O-Jana, while the international trio Hobby Horse, featuring two Americans, saxophonist Dan Kinzelman and bassist Joe Rehmer, plus Italian drummer Stefano Tamborrino, had an explosive energy that blasted them into wild psychedelia, rugged rubato, sinister chants and proto-industrial live loops that concluded with a buzzing drone that carried on after the musicians had departed.

If that woke audiences up, then Franco D’Andrea came dangerously close to having the opposite effect in an underwhelming gala concert. The 78-year-old maestro has a gorgeous touch on the piano but was overly subdued, while the horn and rhythm sections of his octet didn’t develop intervallic material that appeared to be sketches in search of a memorable narrative. In stark contrast came alto-soprano saxophonist Roberto Ottaviano whose Eternal Love band (pictured top) was arguably the hottest of hot tickets. Featuring the outstanding clarinetist Marco Colonna, who also played solo the day after, and the excellent British pianist Alexander Hawkins, they performed a set of covers that included anthems by Old And New Dreams, Mal Waldron and Abdullah Ibrahim. The band burst into life with such energy that the audience was up and dancing to the township jive that proved an irresistible climax to a raucous evening. This was soul food EJN was more than pleased to serve.

Photos by Emanuele Meschini