UPSIDE DOWN
Claudio Scolari | Principal Records (2019)
4 October 2019 By Robert Ratajczak
Italian composer and drummer, born in 1962 and a graduate of the College of Music in Parma, Claudio Scolari is a musician whose artistic horizons range from classical music to contemporary jazz and the avant-garde. He collaborates with prestigious symphony orchestras (including the Scala Philarmonic Orchestra of Milano or the RAI National Symphony Orchestra in Turin) and classical chamber ensembles (including Carme and Gruppo Musica Insieme di Cremona), as well as musicians from the jazz world (Steve Gadd , Chad Wackerman).
In the field of jazz music, Scolari fulfills it self by searching and discovering new sounds and sonic creations that lead to innovative solutions. As a leader, he has made several excellent albums, which have received very favorable reviews in such significant periodicals as All About Jazz or Jazz Review. Musical searches led the artist to cooperate in various instrumental configurations.
In 2018, the album "Natural Impulse" was released, realized with the multi-instrumentalist and music producer, Daniel Cavalca graduate of Berkeley Jazz College, born in 1957, and the avant-garde trumpeter Simon Scolari. The next item in the artist's discography is the album "Upside Down", where another musician joined the line-up: bassist Michele Cavalca. This is how the Claudio Scolari Project quartet was created, branded with the names of musicians from different generations of two musical families.
The material released as "Upside Down" was recorded live during one recording session, lasting as long as the album lasts, so less than an hour.
The duo of two lead drummers, supported by trumpet and bass guitar parts, is a quite unusual project. The music is also amazing, it was created in such a composition. However, both Scolari and Cavalca also use other instruments (piano rhodes, classical piano, synthesizers), making the sound rich and full of space.
By combining acoustic sound with modern electronics, Claudio Scolari's project has achieved an original formula that goes far beyond the usual patterns. If we add to this excellent starting material, which are carefully prepared compositions and the enormous improvisational potential of each of the instrumentalists, we will get an excellent effect.
Contrary to appearances, the music on "Upside Down" is far from the avant-garde and solutions often understandable only to more sophisticated listeners. We can find here a lot of easily digestible motifs and harmony friendly to every recipient.
An interesting and unusual offer from Italy definitely deserves attention.