Reviews that mention Sergio Armaroli
October 12, 2021
Dance Steps
Leo Records CD LR 899
Nazareno Caputo
Phylum
Aut Records AUT 070
Echoing idiophone timbral elements both structured and fragmented are wielded on these CDs, with the analytical programs interpreted in equally valid fashions. Phylum is the debut disc by young Italian vibraphone player Nazareno Caputo, who was part of Bruno Tommaso’s Jazz Workshop. Structured formally with a prelude and a postlude, it encompasses several harmonic experiments as well as the three-part title suite. His associates are bassist Ferdinando Romano and drummer Mattia Galeotti. More attuned to free improvisation is Dance Steps, whose terpsichorean details connect the prepared vibraphone of Italian Sergio Armaroli, who has duetted with Fritz Hauser and UK percussionist Roger Turner, who has worked with just about everyone in improvised music. MORE
June 12, 2021
Angelica
Leo Records CD LR 895
Sergio Armaroli
Prismo
ezz-thetics 1022
Swiss percussionist Fritz Hauser and Italian vibraphonist Sergio Armaroli emphasize their instruments’ deliberate and lilting qualities plus their rhythmic functions by maneuvering between improvisation and chance music. Recorded within four months of one another these CDs testify to this delicate balance, with Angelica’s two extended tracks more inclined towards free music, while Prismo’s one extended and 10 much briefer tracks suggest leans towards the aleatoric. Another reason for the latter is that the duo is joined by Italian pianist Francesca Gemmo who has collaborated with Alvin Curran and Swiss cellist Martina Brodbeck, a member of the Basel-Sinfonietta. Hauser works with directors and choreographers and players like Joëlle Léandre, while Armaroli, involved with what he calls percussion concrète has played with Roger Turner among others. MORE
June 12, 2021
Prismo
ezz-thetics 1022
Sergio Armaroli/Fritz Hauser
Angelica
Leo Records CD LR 895
Swiss percussionist Fritz Hauser and Italian vibraphonist Sergio Armaroli emphasize their instruments’ deliberate and lilting qualities plus their rhythmic functions by maneuvering between improvisation and chance music. Recorded within four months of one another these CDs testify to this delicate balance, with Angelica’s two extended tracks more inclined towards free music, while Prismo’s one extended and 10 much briefer tracks suggest leans towards the aleatoric. Another reason for the latter is that the duo is joined by Italian pianist Francesca Gemmo who has collaborated with Alvin Curran and Swiss cellist Martina Brodbeck, a member of the Basel-Sinfonietta. Hauser works with directors and choreographers and players like Joëlle Léandre, while Armaroli, involved with what he calls percussion concrète has played with Roger Turner among others. MORE
January 11, 2021
Duos & Trios
Leo Records CD LR 892
Conny Bauer/Matthias Bauer/Dag Magnus Narvesen
The Gift
NoBusiness Records NBLP 135
Trombone-oriented, but not trombone centred, these trio discs demonstrate the versatility of the sackbut as well as depicting its synergy with other distinctive instruments. Yet the trombones played by veteran European Free musicians are placed in antithetical sonic situations.
Known for his work in the bands Zentralquartett and Doppelmoppel, German Conny Bauer is joined on The Gift by his brother bassist Matthias Bauer as well as Norwegian drummer Dag Magnus Narvesen who has worked with many musicians, including Finnish saxophonist Harri Sjöström, who is featured on Duos & Trios. Someone who has played with Cecil Taylor as well as Matthias Bauer, Sjöström’s duo partner is Italian vibraphonist Sergio Armaroli, associated with Alvin Curran and others. Veteran trombonist Giancarlo Schiaffini makes this a trio on three tracks. Schiaeffini, who like Armaroli moves between notated and improvised music, was part of the Italian Instabile Orchestra. MORE
May 7, 2018
Curran/Schiaffini/C. Neto/Armaroli
From The Alvin Curran Fakebook
Dodicilune Dischi Ed 886
By Ken Waxman
Turning the use of a “fakebook” on its head, instead of improvising on famous standards’ lead sheets, Rome-based American composer Alvin Curran and his Italian associates use 13 of Curran’s composition as the basis for creativity. Known for his pioneering electro-acoustic soundscapes for Musica Elettronica Viva, Curran, plus trombonist Giancarlo Schiaffini, multi-reedist Alipio C Neto, vibist/percussionist Sergio Armaroli, bassist Marcello Testa and drummer Nicola Stranieri create two-CDs of music that sounds both aleatory and arranged. MORE
December 11, 2016
Sergio Armaroli Trio with Giancarlo Schiaffini
Micro and More Exercises
Dodicilune Dischi Ed 360
By Ken Waxman
Like friends who should be made for one another but avoid hooking-up, improvised and New music have grow closer recently, but rarely mesh. Yet the Italian stylists here show how handily this could be done. Percussionist Sergio Armaroli and trombonist Giancarlo Schiaffini consistently move between those genres, and assisted by bassist Marcello Testa and drummer Nicola Stranieri put their stamp on 19 Microexercises composed by Christian Wolff, and six extended pieces by Schiaffini. Member of the New York School, Wolff also had improv experience working with the AMM band. Commissioned to write pieces with fewer than 100 notes, Wolff’s bagatelles leave open instrumentation, ensemble size, playing order, transposition and dynamics. Schiaffini’s compositions reflect his background as a pioneer free music player and collaborator with Scelsi, Nono and Cage. MORE