CD title: Dialogues
Musicians and instruments: Sebastiano Meloni piano, Nicola Cossu double bass, Roberto Dani drums.
Track titles, lengths and composers: 1.. Shadows (Meloni) 5'40
2.. A Quiet Place (Meloni) 4'41
3.. Children (Meloni-Cossu-Dani) 2'49
4.. Waking up (Meloni) 5'17
5.. Snowfall (Meloni) 5'56
6.. Visions (Meloni-Dani) 3'45
7.. In the Night (Meloni-Cossu-Dani) 7'04
8.. A New Theme (Meloni) 2'56
9.. Dialogues (Meloni-Cossu-Dani) 6'57
10.. Another Quiet Place (Meloni-Cossu-Dani) 5'10
11.. Three Ways (Meloni-Cossu-Dani) 1'55
12..Sleeplessness (Meloni-Cossu-Dani) 4'39
Recorded by Alessandro Olla in Auditorium of Conservatory, Cagliari (Italy), March 31, 2009
Mixed by Achim Kaiser at Sonic-Sound-Studio, Viersen (Germany)
CD 523 - is an Italian piano trio that operates in a more specialized world of melodic but ominous music that draws from the fragmented minor key vibe of Ran Blake and the dark bluesy impulses of Paul Bley. The off-center piano riffs and tinkling cymbals of "Children," among other pieces, could have come straight from one of Blake's noir fantasies. Sebastiano Meloni maintains a light touch on his piano, hitting deliberate, tinkling notes that make an edgy contrast to Roberto Dani splashing around his cymbals like Paul Motian. The trio's sense of uneasy quiet is so pervasive it is actually jarring when something more demonstrative happens, like the repetitive stabbing piano and bass chords against rattletrap percussion on "Snowfall" or the agitated piano riffing on "Waking Up" which sounds like a lost Hitchcock soundtrack. The overall sound of this music is dreamy and disorienting with just enough familiar hints of melody and rhythm to keep you intrigued. It's creepy but a pleasure to listen to.
Jerome Wilson Cadence, Jan – March 2011
Jazz Journal November 2010
DIALOGUES (SLAM CD523).
Sebastiano Meloni (pl; Nicolo Cossu (b); Roberto Dani (d). Viersen, Germany 2009.
This is very much a performance for the chamber music lover. The title track opens in a quite static manner and Meloni takes a meandering gait on piano. His more dashing personal sound is heard on New Theme and Cossu fashions her own bass message on In The Night. Sleeplessness is a free three-voice exercise, while Another Quiet Place accommodates a distinctly apt conversation. The title track is the most intriguing, taking perhaps a jazz-like exit and doing so in a way that embraces all three musicians.
Barry McRae
Neri Pollastri http://italia.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=5956
Jobs improvisation, thisDialoguessees it in a trio of excellent musicians really engaged in a dialogue that extends to the twelve tracks, half of them resting on thematic sketches, the others are totally improvised.
The hard lives of sounds and atmospheres, but also the coherence of musical discourses developed.About the sounds, be recognized Sebastian Meloni (recently valued in a similar context, though perhaps less lyrical, along with Adriano Orrù and Tony Oxley,Improvised Pieces for Trio) very clean touch and ability to exploit the high notes of the keyboard, often extending the pauseatthe Paul Bley.But if the pianist is to dominate the scene, one can not consider mere companions of his companions, why Cossu is always in dialogue with the sound of his bass and Roberto Dani plays his part a role that is far from simple battery, a brush of the speech sounds used in making or producing complex sound situations and dramatic, as is the impressive final track, "Sleeplessness."
What particularly strikes of this work is that the strong freedom always remains perfectly readable even repeatedly touches the heights of genuine lyricism, and not only where there are clear thematic fragments of departure, such as in the first track or intense and engaging "Waking Up," but in the rarefied and the Nordic "In the Night" or the creative and impressionistic "Dialogues," entirely improvised but not without a precise and fascinating thread.
Work of unquestionable quality and high, which documents a trio that plays in a creative, original and intelligible.A trio of modern - if only the critics and organizers had more courage - might have even enthusiastic welcome at a wider audience with the usual affectionate.
Visit the websites ofSebastian MeloandRoberto Dani.
Rating: 4 stars
Original Italian:-
Lavoro all'insegna dell'improvvisazione, questoDialoguesvede all'opera un trio di eccellenti musicisti realmente impegnati in un dialogo aperto che si estende per le dodici tracce, metà delle quali poggianti su bozzetti tematici, le altre invece totalmente improvvisate.
Il disco vive di suoni e atmosfere, ma anche della coerenza dei discorsi musicali sviluppati. Riguardo ai suoni, vanno riconosciute a Sebastiano Meloni (recentemente apprezzato in un contesto simile, sebbene forse meno lirico, assieme a Adriano Orrù e Tony Oxley,Improvised Pieces for Trio) grande pulizia di tocco e capacità di valorizzare le note alte della tastiera, spesso estendendo le pausealà Paul Bley. Ma se è il pianista a dominare la scena, non si possono considerare i suoi compagni dei meri accompagnatori, perché Cossu è sempre presente nel dialogo con il suono del suo contrabbasso e Roberto Dani svolge da par suo un ruolo che è tutt'altro che da semplice batterista, pennellando suoni nel procedere del discorso o anche producendo situazioni sonore complesse e drammatiche, come accade nell'impressionante traccia finale, "Sleeplessness".
Ciò che in particolare colpisce di questo lavoro è come la forte libertà resti comunque sempre perfettamente leggibile, anzi a più riprese tocchi vette di autentico lirismo, e questo non solo laddove vi siano chiari frammenti tematici di partenza, come ad esempio nella prima traccia o nella intensa e coinvolgente "Waking Up," ma anche nella rarefatta e nordica "In the Night" o nella creativa e impressionistica "Dialogues," interamente improvvisate ma non per questo prive di un preciso e affascinante filo conduttore.
Lavoro di indubbia ed elevata qualità, che documenta un trio che suona in modo creativo, originale e intellegibile. Un trio moderno che - se solo critica e organizzatori avessero più coraggio - potrebbe avere entusiastica accoglienza anche presso un pubblico più ampio dei soliti affezionati.
Visita i siti diSebastiano MelonieRoberto Dani.
Valutazione: 4 stelle diNeri Pollastri
SEBASTIANO MELONI/NICOLA COSSU/ROBERTO DANI - Dialogues (Slam 523; UK) Recorded live in a conservatory in Cagliari, Italy in March of 2009 and featuring Sebastiano Meloni on piano, Nicola Cossu on double bass and Roberto Dani on drums. I recognize a couple of these names previously: Meloni has recorded in a trio with Tony Oxley and Mr. Dani has a duo disc out with Erik Friedlander and has recorded with Umberto Petrin, Tim Berne & Giorgio Gaslini. After a number of fine disc with different South American musicians, the Slam label has been looking to Italy a number of fine musicians to present. The twelve pieces on this disc were written by Meloni (five), Meloni & Dani (one) or the entire trio (six). This music is superbly recorded and often haunting in its sound. "Shadows" is an appropriate titled restrained piece which is elegant and flows like a refreshing swim in the ocean. "Waking Up" reminds me of rain storm as it approaches and then passes us by, flooding our senses with watery images before it fades into the horizon. This music has a most organic, natural vibe. Roberto Dani sounds as if he is using knitting needles on "Snowfall", where he is featured rustling around the drums most carefully. The trio ascends into more eruptive wave at the beginning of "A New Theme". Each piece develops a different vibe as if it were describing a different scene. The entire disc is like a collection of short stories that add up to a short novel or film of the same name. There is not one spurious note or excessive moment found on this fine disc - it feels quite perfect in substance and execution. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, Downtown Music Gallery http://www.downtownmusicgallery.com/Main/news/Newsletter-2010-06-04.html
CD 423
Dialoghi
di
Vittorio LoConte
La Slam Productions, casa discografica con sede in Inghilterra di George Haslam dà spazio al pianista sardoSebastiano Meloni ed al suo trio insieme a Nicola Cossu al contrabbasso e Roberto Dani alla batteria. Sono dodici brani che seguono per lo più la via dell´improvvisazione totale, percorsi atonali in cui le vie dei tre musicisti si riconcorrono in momenti collettivi ricchi di emozionalità.
Sono poco in sintonia con quello che si produce in Italia preferendo vie più originali, dall´aspetto internazionale. Il pianoforte di Meloni tira fuori linee dall´apparente tranquillità, atmofere notturne, visionarie, in questo avvolto da un contrabbasso in sintonia con le sue idee, che si esprime parallelamente. Li segue la batteria di Dani, anche lui lontanto da ritmi convenzionali, più alla ricerca di colori, di suoni inusuali che danno ai dialoghi del titolo una forma inedita ed anche un´espressione, una pronuncia, che sono al di fuori del consueto. L´atonalità appare subito all´ascolto e conquista per l´empatia che i tre riescono a trasmettere, senza armonie consuete o ritmi accondiscendenti. Cercano l´istante,la scintilla che accende il dialogo collettivo, il momento magico che rifugge dalla consuetudine. http://www.musicboom.it/mostra_recensioni.php?Unico=20100618020052
TRANSLATION
The Slam Productions, record label based in England of George Haslam gives space to the Sardinian pianistSebastian Meloni and his trio along with Nicola Cossu on bass and Roberto Dani on drums. There are twelve songs that mostly follow the path of improvisation total , atonal paths where the paths of three musicians riconcorrono rich in moments of collective emotion.
Are sufficiently in tune with what is produced in Italy prefer more original way, looking internationally. The pianoMeloni takes out lines by the apparent calm, atmofere night, visionary, enveloped in the bass in tune with his ideas, expressed in parallel. We follow the battery Dani, too far far from conventional rhythms, looking for more colors, unusual sounds that give dialogue a new form of title and also an expression, a pronunciation, which are outside the usual. L 'atonality is just listening and empathy for winning the three manage to convey, without harmonies or rhythms usual condescending. They seek instant, the spark that lights the collective dialogue, the magic moment that escapes from the habit.
SEBASTIANO MELONI- NICOLA COSSU - ROBERTO DANI / Dialogues (Slam Productions)
Un jazz moderne mais délicat pour commencer la journée. Un trio piano-contrebasse-batterie dirigé par Sebastiano Meloni, dont les compositions rappellent un peu celles de Lennie Tristano. De beaux dialogues (incidemment) avec la section rythmique dans les pièces plus improvisées. Pas hyper-marquant ou distinctif, mais agréable.
Some delicate modern jazz to kick off the day. A piano/doublebass/drums trio led by Sebastiano Meloni, whose compositions are slightly reminiscent of Lennie Tristano. Nice dialogues (incidentally) with the rhythm section in the more improvised pieces. Not super-distinctive or striking, but enjoyable.
François Couture http://blog.monsieurdelire.com
Sebastiano Meloni/Nicola Cossu/Roberto Dani
Dialogues
SLAM CD 523
Meloni/Orrù/Oxley
Improvised Pieces for Trio
Big Round Records BR 8904
Unheralded overseas, but respected by his peers, Sebastiano Meloni is an avocational pianist based in Cagliari, Italy, whose job as a secondary school teacher gives him the freedom to pursue his own gigs as an improviser. Certainly the 26 performances on these two discs show an original stylist who deserves more playing exposure and less time spent as a teacher of Italian, History and Geography.
A conservatory graduate with a degree in Jazz, Meloni ranges through these self-composed or group improvisations with skill and maturity, creating stylistically self-sufficient lines while cunningly dialoguing with the two bassists and drummers. Both rhythm teams are notable as well. On Improvised Pieces he's backed by veteran British drummer Tony Oxley, whose playing partners have ranged from pianist Cecil Taylor to guitarist Derek Bailey. Another Cagliari resident, and a music teacher as well, versatile bassist Adriano Orrù, has recorded with trombonist Giancarlo Schiaffini. While Nicola Cossu on Dialogues is a bassist who often works with Meloni; drummer Roberto Dani is one of Italy's busiest, having recorded with pianist Umberto Petrin and saxophonist Alberto Pinton, to name two.
Focused around the forms, timbres and registers they were going to explore beforehand, the set with Orrù and Oxley recorded in Germany, paradoxically appears less restrained than the one captured in Meloni's hometown almost exactly a year later. Moving from concentrated sound blocks to stop time, Meloni's contributions encompass high-frequency chording and methodical cadenza building as well as shaded linearism. If anything, contrasting dynamics are present more often than showy glissandi or any connected phrasing. Economical, single tone explorations are the order of the day.
Meanwhile Oxley clip-clops and clatters, frequently expose wood block pops or cymbal scratches while Orrù's contributions includes wide-space drones and thumping resounding. Curiously, Dani's and Cossu's responses are just as concentrated on the other CD, as when the drummer accompanies the pianist's long lines on "Waking Up" with a double- gaited martial beat; or when the bassist's arpeggiated bass line on "A Quiet Place", makes that tune thorny as well as impressionistic.
Dialoguing is on show throughout, whether the heads are staccato and andante or more languid. Single-minded, the majority of Meloni's solos appear to be pieced together from single tones. Most characteristic are "In the Night" and the title tune. On the former the pianist uses pedal pressure to emphasize lower-pitched notes and uncharacteristic forearm smashes on the keyboard. Meanwhile Dani's triangle ringing plus irregularly paced triplets and Cossu's bass-line pumps keep the narrative unfussy. Interchange on the title track is typified when Meloni turns his key exploration up-tempo following the drummer's resounding cymbal grinds. From then on, the mid-range exposition features a cymbal accent, drum roll or ruff each time the pianist emphasizes a phrase.
Close cooperation is also rife on Improvised Pieces for Trio. Yet here, as opposed to the rhythm section's role on the other CD, Orrù and Oxley are dedicated to expanding individual techniques. The drummer highlights wood-block pops, irregular patterning, conga-drum-like pats and descending rolls; Orrù's inner resonations are obvious as frequently, as arco slides dissipate or intensify the tension. Plus he isn't above matching Meloni's rough cascades with sul ponticello slices.
Systematic and linear, the pianist often resorts to repetitions and pauses to add emotional content to the often understated pieces. Self-possessed, Meloni uses different keyboard ploys. On "Vertical Suite: Solos & Trio" for instance, his soundboard rattling and tremolo key strumming slow down to meet vibrating cymbals, only to be transformed into an intermezzo whose linear quality is underlined by an interlude of clatters and claps from Oxley. With an equivalent number of percussion clip-clops and an alternately sawing and walking bass line from Orrù, the pianist not only builds expansive cross tones to a subtle swing, but also highlights a secondary staccatissimo line.
Since Cagliari is hardly a capital of improvised music such as New York or Berlin – let alone Milan or Rome – Meloni's undoubted talents haven't been properly exposed to the (Jazz) world at large. Perhaps these fine sessions will help rectify this omission.
--Ken Waxman
