Marco Vezzoso - Italian Spirit (2020)

“The trumpet is the instrument closest to the human voice and singing has always belonged to the Italian tradition. Rereading the expansive melodies of our country is not new but it is different each time and this shows the vitality and heterogeneity of our art and our culture. Italian Spirit by Marco Vezzoso and Alessandro Collina is a piece of a vast emotional composition which is the rich melody of Italian landscapes and the musical sound of dialects. A disc to be savored like a traditional dish ”. These are the words of Paolo Fresu on the back cover of the new album by the duo Marco Vezzoso and Alessandro Collina, the first Piedmontese trumpeter, the second Ligurian pianist.

The album, released yesterday in both physical and digital versions, is the fifth work that has seen the two musicians collaborate in various formations. Their partnership has lasted for several years with a repertoire that ranges from original pieces by Vezzoso, to Italian classics and jazz standards, with numerous concerts and international tours, especially in the Rising Sun (Japan, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia) as well as in Norway and Turkey. But it is China above all to have been conquered by the two jazzmen, and in particular by their interpretation of the song Sally by Vasco Rossi, of which there is also a video clip recently shared by Blasco himself on his official website and on his Instagram channel.

And Sally opens the tracklist of the new album that re-proposes in a jazz key songs by Dalla, Pino Daniele, Paolo Conte, Antonello Venditti ... "The video of this song - explains Alessandro Collina - traces Sally's long journey in a country like China , geographically distant but ever closer to Italy ".

About the second piece, Bertè's Winter Sea, the pianist still says: "Only those born and living by the sea can understand its charm in the colder months: the wind, the foam and the roar of the waves make us feel the sea even more ours. In the arrangement we went far, following the perpetual motion of the Mediterranean waters. The rhythm of this song in fact lends itself to African influences ".

“Diamante di Zucchero - reveals the Ligurian pianist - was one of the first arrangements created for this record. In the past, listening to this song gave me a strong sense of peace, of a simple life, of traditions, almost a dirge and I really wanted to propose it again as a lullaby. The trumpet moves like the breath of a light wind in the midst of the infinite beauty of the Italian countryside, from north to south, from the Tyrrhenian to the Adriatic ".

The album continues with Paolo Conte's Enfant prodige, in which the voice of Marie Foessel joins the duo (among other things, the two musicians have an ongoing project in France with the singer from across the Alps), Under the sign of pescidi Venditti and Universal Judgments by Samuele Bersani.

A great like Pino Daniele could not be missing, who already had enough of his own in jazz - or at least blues - presented here with A me me like or Blues. “In the trumpet solo - Collina, a fan of the Neapolitan musician since he was a boy, enthuses - Marco has managed to recreate that jam session atmosphere of the sound of Nero in mezzo!”.

This is followed by tributes to two great voices and female personalities of the Italian song, Patty Pravo of Pensiero stupendo and Antonella Ruggero of Matia Bazar with Stasera che sera, in the record sung by the other guest Andrea Balducci.

Before closing with For me it is important of the Tiromancino, historical Roman group, the tribute to the great Lucio Dalla is inserted. "In Balla balla dancer - Collina specifies - the piano wants to recreate the movement of the train (that Palermo-Frankfurt train unfortunately transiting at the Bologna station during the famous attack) while the sound of the trumpet weaves a sweet and desperate melody together".