The album is solid and enjoyable. I leave it up to the listener to decide if Lello’s Italian Job is about branding or if the Italian lineage of the players shapes the music in a distinctive way.

By Steve Provizer

Bassist/Bandleader Lello Molinari has again put together a group of Italian and Italian-American musicians for his second recording of Italian music reconceived in a jazz vein. The other performers here are drummer Marcello Pellitteri, originally from Sicily, saxophonist Dino Govoni, and guitarist Sal DiFusco, both Italian-American. Meena Murthy plays cello on a few tunes.

I’ve heard most of these players in other musical ensembles, large and small, and they are all very accomplished musicians. In Lello’s Italian Job, Volume 2 (Fata Morgana Music) the ensemble tackles a number of tightly structured, off-the-beaten tracks. The communication among the group members is at a high level, the playing is flawless, and the instrumental interplay is always in tune with the dictates of the compositional structure.

Molinari says that in this album his aim is to create “…something that’s both Old World and New, deeply personal while reflecting a profound tradition.” My sense is that knowledge of the originals would increase the listener’s appreciation of his adaptations. In my own case, I was not that familiar with the source material and only caught the Italian connection through the more overt musical references: a mandolin-like sound used by the guitar, some 6/8 meters, and by recognizing a few Italian melodies.

I’m not sure that the presence of Italian-American musicians achieves Molinari’s goal of merging “old world and new.” We’re in difficult territory here; parsing out what trace of a musician’s ethnicity or nationality can be heard in his or her playing is inevitably subjective. Italian-Americans have been contributors to jazz going back to its formative stages — see guitarists Eddie Lang (Salvatore Massaro) and violinist Joe Venuti (Giuseppe Venuti). I leave it to the listener to decide if Lello’s Italian Job is about branding or if the Italian lineage of the players shapes the music in a distinctive way. In any case, the album is solid and enjoyable.

1) “O Sarracino” — A popular song by Neapolitan Renato Carosone. The song starts with some percussion effects, then goes to full trap set. Soprano sax plays the attractive melody, with rhythm guitar and electric bass providing backup. There’s tight interplay here. The sax playing is controlled and then increases in intensity. The guitar then solos, with a rawer rock sound. The rhythm section moves through different feels, leading to a tight ensemble unison after the solo. Drums are given space for improvisation underneath. Sax moves into a repeated riff, then back to the melody and a quick ending.

2) “Jazz Tarrantela” — Don’t be misled by the title. This is not the tune we think we know from Italian wedding scenes in the movies. This tarrantela is performed in a fairly slow walking tempo, with tenor sax playing the melody in a very loose way. The bridge comes in with a slightly different feel and key changes. The guitar has a lighter tone here. Acoustic bass solos with some light accompaniment, the bass staying fairly close to the melody, providing simple elaborations. We hear a quote from a Miles Davis recording of Dear Old Stockholm. The tenor solo is still fairly melodic with some variations. The walking of the rhythm section gets stronger as the solo goes on and the groove becomes deeper. Sax repeats a riff with a stop-time rhythm section background. Then the band goes back to the walking statement of the melody, with some group improvisation leading to another repeated riff and the close.

3) “Intermezzo Sinfonico” — This draws on a line from Mascagni’s opera Cavalleria Rusticana, which is a familiar and lovely tune. Govoni states the melody here, using EWI instead of a sax. EWI is a blown synthesizer, which is fingered like a sax. It allows the player to produce a wide variation in timbre, depending on settings and the air column. The statement of the melody is straightforward. Another synth-like voice is added, the tempo still stately. Light percussion and bass provide accompaniment. EWI does some pretty diatonic improvisation within the classical perimeters, then it’s back to the melody. The arrangement is done tastefully, but to me the EWI walks a fine line between “update” and “cheesy.”

4) “Sulla Strada Per Damasco” — Written by guitarist Sal De Fusco. Guitar begins with a Metheny-esque tone, then tenor sax joins in harmony and they state the melody. This is another fairly slow tempo. The more legato melody bridge section follows and then its back to the opening tone. Time slows, then the tempo picks way up. Tenor begins a fluid improvisation with fast walking bass and guitar chording behind, with drums keeping up the tempo. Tenor plays with confidence. This guitar solo is very different from the earlier rock sound. It’s solidly mainstream jazz. Guitar and sax then repeat the melody in harmony. Sax takes up the burden of the melody as the guitar accompanies. The tempo slows to some riffing on a pedal tone that sets up the original mood and then the ending.

5) “Na Tazzulella E Café” — The disc’s notes proclaim that the song “makes the unlikely journey from Napoli espresso bar to Bourbon Street coffeehouse.” Intro has the drums and EWI playing a marching tempo in what seems like a brief parody of the melody. Drums play a kind of light street beat. Soprano sax picks up the melody as drums continue to march playfully, adding in other sounds, like woodblock. This takes on the feel of strolling through a town and observing the people go through their daily lives. EWI comes in for a quirky solo. The melody to “Blue Monk” is thrown in. New Orleans street beat continues under the sax solo. Then the guitar solos with a touch of Country & Western. The bass is very synth-like. We go back to soprano sax for a slight variation of the original melody and jauntiness prevails. Then back to some mock stentorian EWI and out. I definitely have the feeling that if I knew the original I would be able to appreciate more how they’ve re-shaped this tune.

6) “Tra Veglia E Sonno” — This is a mazurka written by Luigi Canoro. The beginning and ending are presented with a recognizable Italian sound. Guitar plays the melody with mandolin-esque tone and tenor sax repeats the melody. We go to a minor key section in unison w tenor/guitar. The next section offers more open space including a virtuosic guitar solo with a Stratocaster-type guitar sound. Shifts in the rhythm section during the solo create helpful variation. Guitar moves in and out of the harmony. There’s a quiet transition to tenor with just bass, which provides an extremely varied accompaniment-triplets, chords, moving eighths. Guitar joins the accompaniment and one of the freest sections in the album ensues. Soon we return to a less chaotic feel and finally reach back to the original harmony. Then we quickly encounter the mandolin-esque melody. Sax states the melody again, we move to a minor section, and guitar and tenor, performing in unison, end the tune.

7) “I Pini Di Roma” — This comes from The Pines of Rome by Respighi. Quiet clarinet is part of an atmospheric opening. Guitar uses synth-sounding chords, laying down a lush bed, picks up the melody briefly, then clarinet closes the section. Time stops. Then the bass proposes a line and some drama builds until the soprano sax enters with a simple variation on the melodic line. Then a lightly distorted guitar solo — again the rhythm section shifts meters and syncopations in the accompaniment. Sax picks it up more quietly and moves into a more rapid fire, sixteenth note exploration of the harmony. Then the sax simplifies and moves back into a stark statement of the melody. A short coda follows with a suspended feeling that resolves to a quiet close.

8) “Lidio Napoletano” (no composer listed) — This seems to be a group improvisation built around a Lydian scale. Low arco bass tones begin, followed by the sounds of cymbals, fragments of tenor sax, and random percussion. Tenor slowly constructs a melody, with no guitar. Bass begins to trade phrases with the sax and they move into a short dance. Then bass starts to walk as the tenor really begins to solo. Drums move into a steady medium-uptempo. Tenor begins to explore farther afield and bass goes with him — there’s a good intuitive understanding between them and the drummer. We move out of tempo as each voice grows more insistent. Dynamics come back down and grow sparser until the tenor returns to fragments. An improvised bass line brings it home quietly. This track is possibly the best example of the listening skills and improvisational responsiveness of the group.

Lello Molinari and band members Marcello Pellitteri, Dino Govoni, and Sal DiFusco. Photo: courtesy of the artist.

9) “Anema E Core” –This is a Neapolitan song written by Salve D’Esposito, played as a guitar-bass duo. Solo acoustic guitar enters in a jazz mode, but with a strong overtone of the original Italian melody. The bass takes over the melodic lead as the guitar moves to accompaniment. The two travel through the sections of the song with a nice sense of collaboration that generates an Italian-jazz feeling. Then the guitar takes over the lead and the bass moves to the harmony. The guitar elaborates on the melody, then moves closer to it. A single tremolo note, once again, adds in some mandolin flavor. They deftly close the tune. There’s an intimacy reminiscent of some bossa nova recordings here; the Italian and jazz flavors converge well.

10) “Torna A Surriento (Come Back to Sorrento)” — A well traveled song, composed by Italian musician Ernesto De Curtis. EWI slowly states the melody via a recorder-like sound, with cello playing a counter-line and percussion on mallets. The melody stops and the time moves into a medium tempo, with tenor soloing on the harmony, often referring to the melody. Eventually, we move back to the melody. Apart from the tenor sax solo and the sound of the EWI, we are given the song pretty much as we are familiar with it.

11) “Tu ‘si ‘na Cosa Grande” — Written by Domenico Modugno. The tune is taken at a slow, beguine tempo. Flute states the pretty melody, with the cello playing a backing line; there are moving bass and guitar arpeggios beneath. The guitar solos in a tone that is a hybrid of the jazz and Italian sound with a slightly harsher touch. Flute comes back in playing the melody, with no cello this time. We retard to the ending:  or, since this has the sensibility of a movie soundtrack, we fade to black.

12) “Neapolitan” — This is an improvised duet, with percussion, electric bass, and tape loops. We start with drums, bass, and wah-wah synth-like sounds. Vocalizations in Italian enter and then conversational sounds are mixed in. A female and then a male voice sing in Italian in the distance. Percussion becomes more insistent; tambourine now sets the tempo. Synth-like tones continue, as do the voices and everything fades out together. Neither the musical nor the human sounds dominate the track. It’s a way of tying together some of the threads of the album in an effectively theatrical way.

Steve Provizer is a jazz brass player and vocalist, leads a band called Skylight and plays with the Leap of Faith Orchestra. He has a radio show Thursdays at 5 p.m. on WZBC, 90.3 FM and has been blogging about jazz since 2010.