Enrico Morello - Cyclic Signs (2021)

Enrico Morello, one of the most creative drummers in the Italian jazz scene, to release his new album “Cyclic Signs” on Auand Records on March 19

Italian drummer Enrico Morello debut album comes after gaining experience on the need of putting together the endless inputs he received over many years of activity as a sideman. These collaborations allowed him to get in touch and play with the musicians he selected as members of his Cyclic Signs quartet – Francesco Lento on trumpet, Daniele Tittarelli on alto sax and Matteo Bortone on double bass.

Immediately and solid and synched, the members’ approach and contribution fit into Morello’s complex original compositions, and enriched them with their own vision. The Cyclic Signs driving force is to be found in the rhythms of life, and their multiple transformations. However, this album also wants to become a gesture, a moving body, a kinetic force – in other words, a dance.

«When I had to put these concepts into music», Morello explains, «I started from what I feel is more suitable to me – rhythm. I tried to subvert the predictable logic of a metered tempo by tracing unexpected and mixed paths. My aim was to give that feeling of surprise and confusion back to the listeners facing the unknown.»

«Using instruments», he adds, «that are mostly monodic allows a polyphonic development of the themes and let the music flow from silence, just like the strokes of a painter on a canvas. I focused my energy on the harmonic side of each track, conducting the different voices that create the polyphony. Following these principles, harmony keeps a central role in the big picture of these compositions, and it determines their changing music scenarios.»
«Such choices», Morello says, «led me to exploring soundscapes that have an essential timber, although their appearance is complex and well-structured. They are not so far from some traditional music productions in Central Africa, which endlessly inspired my creative research.»