Giancarlo Romani is an Italian trumpet player who has just released his first solo album, Naif, on Alfa Music. Romani has toured and played with various ensembles and about three years ago, he the felt need to re-think his musical journey and bring together a hypothetical sound canvas – connecting the people, emotions and styles he has played through the years. On to this, he created his music. Naif has nine original compositions, and they create nine paintings of different emotions, life experiences and ideas.
“Atleta Volante” is about capturing the moment, which is defined in a frame of practice and achievement to get to the performance and compete to excel. The number is gentle, smoochy and features trumpet over solid rhythms from the ensemble. Gianluca Massetti’s intricate piano solo around the middle third introduces a change of style and tempo, while the percussive rhythms change and work their way under the keys. The quiet interlude is unexpected and features trumpet flaring over Giampaolo Scatozza’s drums. A solid opener for this interesting and dynamic album.
“Cinque Minuti in Oslo” draws miniature city-scapes, changes in shapes and pattern using musical lines which vary, as if traveling through different parts of the city. There’s a gentle soaring across the rooftops perhaps at the start, and a dynamic and uplifting section where it feels as if the traveller is the trumpet. The rest of the ensemble fill in the details. A slip into the minor key adds a touch of menace, perhaps a hidden alley way or shadowy characters seen at the edges of vision – almost but not quite touching the traveller as they pass. The gently bowed bass adds a sense of rest, before the piece picks up and we are traveling again.
“Aya Sofya” was written when Giancarlo Romani was staying in a hostel near the Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque in Istanbul, and felt immersed in the sounds and smells of the city. It is is buzzy, heavy on the percussion and has a distinctive eastern flavor with swing and syncopated rhythms over which Giancarlo Romani’s trumpet soars like an eagle – at times dipping down, flying high and circling. The middle section is a gem and the band is tight throughout, with a gentle, quiet interlude of bass, bells and sighing trumpet which adds to the feel of a different world with hidden delights.
“Orizzonti Espansi e Curve nella Memoria” is about a journey which characterizes the life of a musician. It depicts a time where thoughts and memories are softened and smoothed into curves, as they merge with the immense spaces that the road leads towards. The track is gentle, soothing and emotive, with a sighing Romani trumpet over swaying beats and a beautifully melancholic bass solo woven into the start of the final third.
“Elegia (Per un Uomo Ordinario)” is about a man’s life, birth and death, and the idea that the actual man is what happens in between. It is about the ordinary man, one who may not go down in history and who does not change the world, but once he has made his journey on this earth he continues to “be” in the hearts of the people who loved him. The track is strong, swingy and features some great harmonics. Francesco Bearzatti’s sax solo rises out of the ensemble and flies, creating an uplifting well of sound, under which the ensemble respond and structure a hefty support.
Massetti’s piano solo, with its riffles over crashed chords, is sublime and Giancarlo Romani’s loose-tongued trumpet section is attention grabbing. The entire ensemble takes off into a free phase before the piano, quiet and solo, brings the piece back down. Order is restored and the ensemble finish in harmonic union under the trumpet. Wonderful.
“Sonnambulando” is about the state we are in when we wake up from an intense dream which is almost tangible in its reality. We are between two worlds – that of reality and the dream. It is introduced by Gianluca Massetti’s piano, which sets the tone and works the theme before the ensemble take it and develop the number into a wistful, atmospheric piece with solos from clarinet, sax, piano and trumpet. There is a lovely ascent and descent where different instruments pick up different sections, taking seamlessly over from the one preceding – an earful of delight before the theme returns for the finish.
“Una Nuova Intimita (In Miles We Trust)” is about being at peace to an extent that we have a vision full of light and hope, like the dreams of childhood. This is a well-worked vehicle for Giancarlo Romani’s trumpet to shine out over the ensemble, elegantly climbing, falling away then building toward the central theme which the trumpets sings like an aria. Supported by the strong backing, the trumpet is immense and powerful yet has a touch of sweetness in the delivery which tips a hat to Miles Davis’ “Jean Pierre.”
“Drunk Joyful Blues” is a delight, as the trumpet responds to Nuna Shoesmith’s vocals, delivering a playful, strong, swaying, blues-infused number which is simply a joy, particularly the drum and trumpet discussion which takes place after the first third. Romani’s trumpet then proceeds to lurch, warp and weave its drunken theme of the title expertly over the top. Francesco De Gregori’s harmonica adds atmosphere and increases the blues feel, then Amos Vigna’s sax solo joins the trumpet to layer it on thick. A joy to hear.
“Buonanotte” is about ending the day with thoughts of our loved ones and restores order, as it takes a gentler, dreamier road while the bonus track “Orizzonti Espansi e Curve nella Memoria” is a revisit to the earlier theme and finishes Naif beautifully.
This is a really interesting album, and the twists and turns of the music tell many tales and provide visions of different life experiences and times. The trumpet playing of Giancarlo Romani is superb, and he has the joyful experience of working with a steadfast line up.
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