The notes say this is a project of improvised music
based on musical instruments and objects, hence
the titles of the tunes, which just describe the instruments.
I actually like this idea, not being a fan of song titles which
don't mean anything. And this is a duo, which I also like.
And just a technical note, the drums are mainly hand
drums, not a drum set.
When I first started listening I thought that the music
was South American, especially with some of the flute
playing, and drumming, or Asian, especially when the
bamboo flute and gongs are used, or mid eastern when
minor scales are used, so I had to check where Lizzanello
is.
The tunes meld into one another, since the moods of all
of them are similar, even though the instrumentation
changes. To my ears, this CD should be listened to as one
long track with changing instrumentation, rather than as
different tracks.
Most of the CD is quite mellow, though, as in "stones,
pot lids" there is more active drumming. And Pacciolla's c
flute, definitely has some jazz influence. I really enjoyed
"Jew's harp" not having heard that instrument played in
a jazz context since Dizzy played it back in the 80s.
The interplay between Cotardo and Paciolla is excellent.
There were sections which worked so well they
could have been composed, but that is the beauty of
improvisations between players who listen carefully to
each other.
A nice record, which would make for some very nice
background music, but would also stand up to careful
listening.
Bernie Koenig 1 October 2013
http://www.cadencejazzmagazine.com/membersonly/admin/assets/CadenceOctober2013double.pdf
Just flux? or flux that somehow answers musical justness or rightness?
The small and deconstructed instrument approach - a couple of tracks use
flute headjoints, stones, pot lids - is hard enough to pull off musically,
harder still to pull off with such delicacy and grace. These are lovely
pieces, performed by two master musicians who know how to make music without
just joining dots but who also understand the narrow line between freedom
and an unsatisfying randomness.
Brian Morton, Jazz Journal May 2013
Free Dot, il punto libero con cui si è chiamato il duo in questione questa volta
presenza un concerto live, rinunciando quindi agli effetti della sovraregistrazione.
La loro musica improvvisata con strumenti etnici e non ha delle radici, in quella
delle tradizioni delle musiche extraeuropee, nelle registrazioni e nelle performances
sul campo, ma anche in pionieri come Stephan Micus che nelle sue innumerevoli
registrazioni fatte in solo per la Japo prima e la ECM dopo ha messo insieme strumenti
di tradizioni ed etnie diverse su innumerevoli traccie arrivando a delle suggestive
conclusioni su supporto audio ben recepite dal pubblico.I due musicisti italiani,
Paolo Pacciollaalla batteria, berimbau, mbira,voce, arpa ebraica, piano, campanelli e
Antonio Cotardoai flauti, voce,campane, pianoforte affascinano e seducono il pubblico
con una musicache può sembrare semplice, allo stesso tempo lontana anni luce dallefacili
suggestioni di quella che si ascolta nei saloni di bellezza perrilassare i clienti.
C´è tensione in quello che fanno, un flusso di energia che scorrelentamente ma inesorabile,
l´uso di tradizioni extraeuropee fatto con unapproccio originale. L´incontro del berimbau,
proveniente dalBrasile, e di flauti in uso in luoghi lontani e apparentementeirranggiugibili
fa scintille, così come il cercare le risonanzeall´interno del pianoforte, o gli incontri
con gli altri strumenti percussivi raccolti per il globo.È uno di quei dischi che si
ascoltano molte volte, bello e misterioso allo stesso tempo, da cui più che una formula
traspare l´interesse per il suono allo stato puro insieme al momento magico colto dai microfoni.
http://www.musiczoom.it/?p=11928
Free Dot, the free point with which it is called the duo in question this time present a live concert,
then giving up the effects of the overdub. Their improvised music with ethnic instruments and has no
roots in the traditions of non-European music, in recordings and performances on the field, but also
as pioneers Stephan Micus that in its many recordings made for the first and Japo ECM after he put
together tools and traditions of different ethnic groups on countless tracks coming to the suggestive
findings on audio well received by the public. The two Italian musicians, Pacciolla Paul on drums,
berimbau, mbira, voice, Jewish harp, piano, bells and Antonio Cotardo flutes, voice, bells, piano
fascinate and captivate the audience with music that may seem simple at the same time far light years
from easy suggestions of what you hear in beauty salons to relax your customers. There is tension in
what they do, a flow of energy that flows slowly but surely, the use of non-European traditions made
with an original approach. The meeting of the berimbau, coming from Brazil, and flutes in use in distant
places and apparently irranggiugibili sparks, as well as the search for the resonances inside the piano,
or meetings with other percussion instruments collected the globe. It is one of those albums that you
listen to many times, beautiful and mysterious at the same time, from which more than a formula show
his interest in the pure sound along with the magical moment caught by the microphones.
http://www.musiczoom.it/?p=11928
Improvvisazione pura, estemporaneo flusso di coscienza, a partire solo da un variegato set di strumenti e
oggetti, quello messo in atto da questi due eccellenti musicisti pugliesi. Poliflautista sperimentale, di
formazione accademica e jazzistica, Antonio Cotardo, è solista alla costante ricerca della propria voce
strumentale, sempre in relazione agli infiniti, possibili percorsi, reali o immaginari, che le molteplici
tradizioni musicali altre possono offrire. Pianista, percussionista, etnomusicologo, profondo conoscitore
della musica classica indiana, è invece Paolo Pacciolla, qui in veste di vero e proprio architetto del
paesaggio sonoro, impegnato nel far risuonare campane, nel tintinnare cimbali, nel percuotere tamburi,
nel far "parlare" la mbira africana, nello scandire ritmi al berimbao, il tipico cordofono della cultura
brasiliana, e nel far riverberare le corde del pianoforte preparato. Una registrazione che si irradia nello
spazio per placidi moti, regolari o irregolari, come di onde solleticate da una lieve brezza. A tratti
l'ispirazione sembra essere quella meravigliata, ipnotica e rivelatrice del Tony Scott di Music for Zen
Meditations.
Ricercatori.(Marco Maiocco)http://www.discoclub65.it/jazz/archivio-mainmenu-42/5193-free-dot-just-flux.html
Pure improvisation, impromptu stream of consciousness, starting only from a diverse set of tools and objects
that have been taken by these two excellent musicians from Puglia. Poliflautista experimental, academic training
and jazz, Cotardo Antonio, was a soloist in constant search of its instrumental voice, always in relation to the
infinite, possible routes, real or imaginary, the many other musical traditions can offer. Pianist, percussionist,
ethnomusicologist, connoisseur of Indian classical music, is instead Pacciolla Paul, here as the real
architect of the soundscape, is busy trying to ring bells, jingle the cymbals, the drumming in to "talk" to
the African mbira, in marking the rhythms berimbao, the typical cordofono of Brazilian culture, and in doing
piano strings reverberate prepared. A recording that radiates into space to placid movements, regular or
irregular, such as waves tickled by a gentle breeze. Sometimes the inspiration seems to be surprised, hypnotic and
revealing of Tony Scott Music for Zen Meditations. Researchers.
(Mark Maiocco) http://www.discoclub65.it/jazz/archivio-mainmenu-42/5193-free-dot-just-flux.html
Free Dot is an Italian duo featuring Paolo Pacciolla on drums,
berimbao, mbira, Jew's harp & piano and Antonio Cotardo on flutes,
bells, piano & voice. This is the second disc on Slam from the same
duo although they called themselves Ariband on the first one. Mr.
Cotardo plays a variety of flutes here: alto, bass, C, bamboo & Greek
flutes while Mr. Pacciolla plays assorted percussion: bodran, stones,
pot lids, cymbals & drums. This is a completely improvised session
and it has a rather ritualistic vibe. Somber yet cosmic, free spirits
without the virtuosic excess. After more than fifty years, "free
music" is a universal language that is not bound by words or borders.
When it works, it doesn't matter where it comes from. It speaks
directly to the heart and mind simultaneously. It works quite well
here so dig in and enjoy. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, Downtown Music
Gallery
Un deuxième album pour le duo d'Antonio Cotardo (flûtes, surtout) et Paolo Pacciolla (percussions, surtout). Just Flux!, c'est 50 minutes d'improvisation libre faisant appel à une vaste gamme de flûtes et de percussions. Le rythme prédomine, et il règne dans ce disque une belle ouverture sur le monde – les influences se bousculent, bien intégrées, dans cette musique aérienne et très vivante.