Sardinian-born trumpeter Paolo Fresu and bandoneonist Daniele di Bonaventura from Fermo, Italy, indicated the depth of their musical understanding on 2010’s Mistico Mediterraneo, a collaboration with Corsican singers A Filetta. Left to their own resources they explore a very broad range of material which includes original ballads by both men, improvisations, a Puccini theme from La Boheme, liturgical music, pieces by legendary Chilean songwriter Victor Jara and Uruguayan singer-songwriter Jaime Roos, music of Neapolitan composer Ernesto de Curtis, “O que sera” by Brazil’s Chico Buarque and more. Daniele Di Bonaventura has spent much of his creative life bringing aspects of jazz and music of South American traditions together, and Paolo Fresu is one of the outstanding lyrical voices of contemporary improvising…

A prolific, award-winning Italian trumpet and flügelhorn player known for his warm tone and lyrical style. His style is based on the classic Miles Davis sound of the '50s, and the very lineup of his quintet is reminiscent of Davis' group, with excellent tenor Tino Tracanna. They mostly play originals and the music flows fresh and engaging, never a mere imitation.

"Tango Macondo" has born from a theatrical performance that merges words and sounds,
tangos and popular music, archaic rites and dreamlike contemporaneity. A journey "on the borders between delirium and geography" that from Sardinia, thanks to the surreal writing of Salvatore Niffoi, comes to cross Macondo, the imaginary country born from the oneiric and mythical universe of Gabriel García Márquez with its wealth of visions and wonders.

Polish violinist Adam Bałdych is a unique virtuoso of his instrument in jazz. However, he puts his virtuosity entirely at the service of the music - with a cultivated tone, a strong sense for sound and space and a talent for haunting melodies. All qualities that link him to the Sardinian trumpeter Paolo Fresu, one of Italy's most successful jazz musicians, who becomes Bałdych's musical partner in lyrical musical conversations on "Poetry".

Se è vero che la musica di questo CD è nata per accompagnare due film (Il più crudele dei giorni e L'isola), è altrettanto vero che Paolo Fresu non 'subisce' tale condizione, assemblando i brani in maniera tale da dar vita ad un lavoro unitario, dalla forte identità e tale da sintetizzare varie fasi della sua ormai già lunga carriera.

With 850,000 volumes, 120,000 old books and a collection of 7,500 newspapers, the Municipal Library of the Archiginnasio of Bologna is a place steeped in history. It was here, in early 2021, that Paolo Fresu decided to celebrate his own history. For his 60th birthday, the Sardinian trumpet player gathered a handful of relatives for an exceptional concert, obviously without an audience. Together with bandoneonist Daniele di Bonaventura, pianist Dino Rubino, double bassist Marco Bardoscia and the Alborada Quartet, he wandered through various rooms in this magnificent library performing pieces in his own style. A colourful and hybrid jazz, European at heart and always strolling around.

E via, tutti a dire: "il jazz incontra la classica" e viceversa, "Fresu lirico", "il trombettista sardo improvvisa sui canoni classici" e così ruzzolando nella banalità menzognera. La prima verità è che "Vinodentro" è una colonna sonora dell'omonimo film di Ferdinando Vicentini Orgnani, che ha nel cast Giovanna Mezzogiorno e Vincenzo Amato. La seconda è che Fresu non è nuovo a lavori di questo tenore musicale: l'elenco sarebbe troppo lungo e tedioso.

Paolo Fresu Quintet was founded in 1984 by the will of Paolo Fresu and Roberto Cipelli and today is rightfully part of the history of the modern Italian jazz, celebrating - with the same original training - thirty years of life, a very rare thing in'entire history of African American music.

All four members of the collective calling itself Palatino have often carved out niches that place them just outside popular currents, and this one is no exception. There is a gentle though propulsive quality to the pianoless quartet that relies on the unusual instrumentation of trombone, trumpet, bass, and drums. All the tunes are originals by each of these seasoned bandmembers, except Tadd Dameron's "On a Misty Night." This is the sort of fare that grows on you, the kind that requires close attention to appreciate its nuances. The short lengths of the tunes prevent any meandering, though there is a sameness to some of the pieces as a result of the limited instrumentation. The two horns, trombonist Glenn Ferris and trumpeter Paolo Fresu, are stylistically similar, each offering understated and clearly articulated improvisations – clean, sparse, and economical.

Virtuosity of those two musicians is incredible to discover. They hitting heavy on beautiful standard "Dear Old Stockholm" with grace and gentleness but having guts to alternate harmony in dignified, balanced way. Uri Caine, as it is my second encounter with his artistry (I've only tried "ThePhiladelphiaExperiment"), astonished me with marvelous and complex technique of phrasing with left hand. The illusion (well…) of whole rhytmic section conveyed in his playing cannot be denied - couple of times I really forgot that there're only piano and trumpet. And this is the most tasteful of this album, how he can focus listeners' attention on his play with this wonderful rhythmic, but also so melodic (and bluesy…) approach.