Enzo Rocco - Scraps: (very) old and (almost) new solo guitar pieces (2023)

Neither more nor less than a collection of guitar solos, some of them recent, some others a little older, a couple of then even ancient. Total, but somewhat thematic improvisations – perhaps one could call them "atmospheric" improvisations.
Live and home recordings realized with the poor household means at my disposal: hope you will forgive the non-uniformity of the sound quality depending on the different origin of the sources.

A few words about the pieces.

"Strings Study", "Thumbs", "Mixolydian Study", "Hanging Harmonics" are four short guitar studies realized during the 2020 lockdown. My first intention was to record a longer series of them, but the lockdown came to the end and I happened to forget my original intent. That’s fine. Loads of guitar studies around, I wouldn’t have added anything transcendental.

"Peaches Brew" was presented at the “Città Sonora Guitar Fest 2020” in Milan. The unforgettable Roberto Masotti invited a bunch of guitarists to celebrate Frank Zappa on his eightieth birthday (21th December). It was my first occasion to carefully listen to some music by the moustached genius from Baltimore in an attempt to make him a fairly decent tribute.

"Remix Suite No.2" is the reworking as a suite of three pieces I had already performed live: studies, somehow, even in this case.

"Hi-Lo Inventio" too is a reworking. Through the artifice of the overdubbing the original alternation of high and low sounds creates a sort of counterpoint. My first overdubbing experience: maybe the last, but one never knows.

"Hollow Body Practice" is the fortuitous recording of a few minutes of my morning practice. Don’t remember when, don’t remember where. I just remember - standing in my living room - the awful guitar which I still have to fight against every day.

"Blues@Alice" comes from a concert I gave at the association "Alice nella città" in Cremona in November 2001. After one hour of tortured strings somebody asked me if I was capable to play a blues. In one way or another I tried.

"Vortex Solo" is part of a small performance at the Vortex club in London the day after playing at the Discovery Festival in September 2017 (a marathon of twelve hours of music organized by the untiring John Russell in Walthamstow, the London district where he lived).

It was just a few months after that festival that John discovered he was suffering from the disease which would have taken him away from the affection of hundreds of loyal friends around the world. "Dear John" is the audio of my contribution - as playful as John was, but sincerely grieved and heartfelt - to a special Youtube broadcast dedicated to him after his death in January 2021 by the members of “Mopomoso”, the historical association he had founded and stubbornly led for decades.

"Venice '99" is again related to my frequent London visits. It is a short improvisation part of the first concert I gave with Lol Coxhill (and Veryan Weston) in Italy, at the IUAV (Venice University) in 1999.

"Las dos hechiceras": from 2000 to 2010 I was a frequent visitor to Latin America. This piece was recorded in 2002 and dedicated to two dear friends, two nice sisters, during one of my trips in Mendoza, at the foot of the Argentinian Andes. Good old days.

Heartfelt thanks to Giuseppe Dosi for the cover photo.