VICOLO

After ARTI E MESTIERI broke up (temporarily) after two amazing albums, bass player Marco Gallesi helped to form this band. Some of his former members guest on this album. As the bio here says, this album combines Classical and Jazz as several of the musicians here were trained in Conservatories.That goes a long way in explaining why I don't like this release. I've been listening to it all week and it has not grown on me at all, in fact it's been a chore listening to this. All I can say is that it doesn't sound good at all, and i'm not talking about the sound quality but rather the music itself.

"Five To Four" kicks in quickly as sax and flute help out. The tempo then slows down. Some clavinet as well on this one. "Serpente Piumato" is led by synths, drums then sax. "Dedalo E Caro" is uptempo with violin. Sax and drums lead after 1 1/2 minutes then the violin returns. "Diatomea" features some prominant bass after 1 1/2 minutes.Flute leads 4 minutes in as bass continues. Violin 5 1/2 minutes in.

"Arena" has some atmosphere early and also minimoog. Flute, bass and drums take over. Piano before 4 minutes then the flute returns to end it. "Araba Fenice" is led by percussion, acoustic guitar and flute early. Drums and bass after 1 1/2 minutes. The bass is chunky. Sax before 3 1/2 minutes, guitar a minute later. Flute, sax and guitar takes turns from here. Sax, drums and keyboards are prominant on "Maya", some vocal melodies too. "Nino" opens with flute and piano as bass and drums join in. The bass is fat 3 minutes in. "Vicolo" is jazzy with violin. Sax and drums standout as well.

I can't even bring myself to give this 3 stars.