"Antongiulio Foti - Trained in the United States, first by attending the Jazz Workshop of the Berklee College of Music Five Weeks as a scholarship recipient at the age of fourteen and then at the Manhattan School of Music at eighteen, Antongiulio Foti is a young and talented pianist with already a consolidated artistic experience, enriched by collaborations with Jim McNeely and the Manhattan Sings Big Band, and Enrico Intra and the Civica Jazz Band of Milan. At the age of twenty-one, he made his recording debut as a leader with "Hold Fast", the realization of which was financed by the SIAE through the "Per Chi Crea" grant and recorded at the helm of a trio completed by two excellent instrumentalists such as Jacopo Ferrazza on double bass and Ettore Fioravanti on drums, joined by Daniela Spalletta on vocals and Rosario Giuliani on alto sax as guests. It is a work that intertwines the different musical experiences that have characterized Foti's artistic life and musical research, ranging from Afro-Cuban rhythmic suggestions to the sounds of the Mediterranean, passing through Italian songwriting. In this regard, the pianist states: "This is an invitation, listening to the record, to cling to the first element that strikes us, and to be guided in understanding what is less immediate. Without forgetting the other meanings of the term: Hold Fast, persevere, and keep faith, believe firmly in one's principles, one's values. This is what has firmly guided the realization of this project, the fulfillment of the principles of freshness, sincerity, and beauty”. Composed of eight songs, seven of which are original compositions, the album opens with the dynamic title-track with the piano guiding the melodic structure, masterfully supported by the rhythm section. We continue with "Elastic Bands" which, as Foti himself writes in the presentation of the disc, is a "composition based on the "elastic" properties of the musical meter" in which Foti's piano and Giuliani's sax give life to a tasty game made up of dialogic phases and call and response. The splendid voice of Daniela Spalletta then enters the scene, embellishing the Nordic and ethereal atmospheres of "Hermes" and playing a leading role in the "Suite Mediterranea", dedicated to the Mare Nostrum and our cultural roots, but also an elegy in music for those who cross its waters in search of a better future, finding death instead. The first movement "Seikilos" is Foti's original reworking of the ancient melody of the "Epitaph of Sicilo" in which the chant in ancient Greek, Turkish and Arabic is combined with a brilliant arrangement in which Ferrazza's double bass stands out, played with the bow. The second movement, "Mediterraneo", comes from Mango's songbook and pays tribute to the Italian songwriting song that sang of the sea around our peninsula. The overwhelming swing of "Tesseract", with Foti's piano weaves a close dialogue with Fioravanti's drums and Ferrazza's double bass, introduces us to the reflective "La découverte de Lascaux" to which the pianist entrusts the memory of the visit to the frescoed caves of Lascaux in the South of France. The superb "Mokongo Ma' Chevere" signes off the disc with the trio, expanded into a quintet with Giuliani on sax and Daniela Spalletta on vocals, which pays homage to the African roots of jazz. "Hold Fast" is, therefore, an excellent first work, which highlights all the extraordinary potential of Antongiulio Foti as a leader in enhancing individual talents and the expressiveness of instrumental voices. We will see some good ones in the future."
Click here to continue to read online (Italian version)
Salvatore Esposito, from Suoni Jazz, “blog folk magazine”
June 24, 2021
June 24, 2021
Please note that the present article is an automatic-machine translation from the corresponding Italian version. It is hoped, however, that the original sense, style and character have been preserved.