by Pico
When you look at what the pianist from Palermo, Sicily has already accomplished, any new release by Salvatore Bonafede should be a highly anticipated one. A Berklee grad, Bonafede has played with Jerry Bergonzi, John Scofield, Joe Lovano, Tim Berne, John Abercrombie, Lester Bowie, Tom Harrell, Dave Douglas and fellow Italian Enrico Rava. He’s led records that has included Lovano, Paul Motian and Marc Johnson. He cites Paul Bley as a significant influence. He’s written award-winning movie soundtracks. So with a new CD out last week, marking 20 years of making records, one might think Bonafede is resting on his laurels, no?
Fugghedaboutit.
After spending some time establishing himself in Boston and then New York, Bonafede returned to Italy and continues to grow his legacy. For Sicilian Opening (released March 2 on Jazz Eyes Records), he settled on a trio format and chose fellow Sicilians Marcello Pellitteri (drums) and Marco Panascia (double and electric bass) to make a traditionally-configured record to render ten of Bonafede’s compositions, plus a couple of covers.
The avant garde credentials of Bonavede didn’t really show up–not explicitly , at least—to result in some abstruse collection of indigestible music. Rather, Bonafede explores the colors and the flow of a good melody, much as a master of pop music is able to do. That’s not saying Bonafede spins pop confection, far from it. He’s simply adept at inserting hooks that give listeners a good reference point they can return to with each go ’round and leaves them something that stays in the brain matter long after the disc stops spinning.
That rhapsodic flair of his bring out the character of tracks like the 3/4 gait of “La Grande Ilusion,” the low-key but thematic “It Plays From Far” or the chamber-music voicings of “Torre Ligny.” But the composer and leader likes to mix things up just enough to maintain the ebb and flow you’ll find in any great record. “Sicilian Opening,” the song, is fueled by a second-line measure. Bonafede admits to have never been to the Crescent City, and the tune isn’t very creole-sounding, but the combination of a Big Easy beat and a Big Apple chordal structure works just fine.
I don’t know what the song title “bbbb” means, but “blues” comes to mind when I listen to it. Bonafede weaves a tune that’s deceptively simple, but the starkness creates abstraction, an astute emulation of Bley’s genius. “WWWW” has a simple melody, too, but Bonafede slips in a harmony that seems to dare the main melodic line to come outside.
Since Bonafede’s own songs reveal a composer with a sharp sense of lasting melodies, maybe it should raise no eyebrows that he took not one but two stabs at Beatles covers. Here, he shows a predilection for Paul McCartney’s lilting tone poems, like “Blackbird,” and “She’s Leaving Home.” The former was memorably covered by Brad Mehldau early in his career, and Bonafede’s takes isn’t much different in basic approach. But the rhythm section discards the subtleties of the Jorge Rossy/Larry Granadier combination and opts for a more muscular approach, pushing Sal to strike a amalgam between and rhythm that’s more biased toward rhythm.
“She’s Leaving Home” is a less obvious choice at first glance, but Bonafede inserts an intriguing, ambiguous intro in front of it that serves as a curtain that’s pulled away to reveal the familiar sequence of notes. The way the song unfolds naturally is a testament to Bonafede’s interpretive skills. By revisiting the “new” intro section, he makes the more familiar section brighten by contrast.
Sicilian Opening might not generate the buzz of a Mehldau record, but the Art of the Trio, Sicilian style contains just as much artistry and leaves a great aftertaste. It’s a convincing issue that confirms the idea that as a composer, interpreter, and yeah, pianist, Salvatore is—ahem—bonafide.
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