Sonnambuli

MAX DE ALOE ERMANNO LIBRASI NICOLA STRANIERI TRIO

SONNAMBULI

Release date: October 5th, 2018
code/format: BFA LP 502

Max De Aloe chromatic harmonica, accordion, live electronics
Ermanno Librasi bass Clarinet, programming, loops
Nicola Stranieri drums

TRACKLIST

Side A
1A Sonnambuli (che si cercano) 5:00
2A Pack 4:25
3A King Kong ha gli occhi lucidi 5:39
4A Ul Giuan Marcora 5:34

Side B
1B A sort of dance 3:01
2B Askja 5:07
3B Atea preghiera 6:25
4B Björk on the moon 7:14

All compositions by Max De Aloe

Recording Information:

Recorded October 7 and 8, 2017 by Piergiorgio Miotto
Mixed and mastered by Marti Jane Robertson at Studio della Giraffa, Cagliari, in April 2018

Produced by Max De Aloe, Ermanno Librasi and Nicola Stranieri for Barnum for Art
Graphic Designer: Gianluca Brugnetti
Photo: Stefania Miano
English Texts: Cynthia Cook
Liner Notes: Paolo Fresu and Gianni Coscia

ABOUT THIS LP

Three musicians of proven experience on the European jazz scene have started an incredibly original and magical project.
It is SONNAMBULI, described by the great trumpet player Paolo Fresu in his cover notes as “amazing, not to mention new and unexpected”.
Acoustic instruments such as the chromatic harmonica, accordion, bass clarinet and drums mix with surprising and highly imaginative electronic scenarios.It is music that departs from the usually norms of jazz, at times crepuscular and nocturnal, as it delves into the compositions by Max De Aloe, labelled by the trade press as one of the most active jazz harmonica players on the European scene.
Max De Aloe, Ermanno Librasi and Nicola Stranieri have now arrived at their album marking their maturity. And also the great Gianni Coscia commented on Sonnambuli: “These three artists – sleepwalkers or ghosts – softly touch each other without overlapping so as to not break the spell. It’s a poliphony which reminds me of the theatre of the absurd. And so, here we find music of the absurd that would certainly have intrigued Ionesco and Beckett”.

Liner notes

Chi sceglie l’armonica cromatica come proprio strumento non può essere che curioso.
Ed è questa curiosità, unita a una buona dose di coraggio, che porta Max De Aloe a relazionarsi con un nuovo progetto spurio il cui fascino dello strumento (forse) più piccolo del mondo si addiziona al sound dell’elettronica e dialoga con un clarinetto basso e una batteria.
Il risultato è strabiliante nonché nuovo e inatteso.
Perché Sonnambuli è giocato con intelligenza su un sottile equilibrio di rimandi, stratificazioni e silenzi immaginati.
Se Edgard Allan Poe scriveva <Coloro che sognano di giorno sanno molte cose che sfuggono a chi sogna solo di notte> è nella dualità del chiaroscuro che si cela, a mio avviso, il senso di questo nuovo ascolto.
Paolo Fresu

Those who choose the chromatic harmonica as their instrument can be nothing other but curious.
And it is this curiosity combined with a good dose of courage that led Max De Aloe to become involved in a new spurious project whose allure of the (perhaps) smallest instrument in the world is added to the sound of electronics and confabulates with a bass clarinet and drums.
The result is amazing, not to mention new and unexpected.
That is because ‘Sonnambuli’ is cleverly played with well-balanced references, stratifications and pictured silences.
Edgard Allan Poe wrote, “Those who dream by day are cognizant of many things which escape those who dream only by night.” In my opinion, it is in the duality of chiaroscuro that the sense of this new sound lies hidden.
Paolo Fresu

Nella penombra di uno spazio vuoto, la struttura apparentemente indefinita di questi linguaggi musicali può apparire priva di scioglimento in cui – in ogni brano – la fine rimanda all’inizio o viceversa.
Note sonnambule o fantasmi in musica sembrano fuggire da un costrutto formale e razionale per dare spazio all’emozione, all’intenso stato d’animo.
Ancora una volta musica (o jazz) d’avanguardia? Non mi basta.
Questi tre artisti – sonnambuli o fantasmi – si sfiorano senza sovrapporsi per non rompere l’incantesimo. E’ una polifonia che mi fa pensare al teatro dell’assurdo. Ecco, allora, una musica dell’assurdo che sicuramente avrebbe intrigato Ionesco e Beckett.
Gianni Coscia

The apparently undefined structure of these musical languages may appear limitless in the shadows of an empty space. Here, in each track, the end refers to the beginning or vice versa.
Somnambulist notes or ghosts in music seem to flee from a rational and formal construction to make room for emotion, the intense frame of mind. Is it once again progressive music (jazz)? No, it’s much more.
These three artists – sleepwalkers or ghosts, as you like – softly touch each other without overlapping so as to not break the spell.
It’s a poliphony which reminds me of the theatre of the absurd. And so, here we find music of the absurd that would certainly have intrigued Ionesco and Beckett.
Gianni Coscia

Bio artists:

Further recordings of this artists
in the Barnum Catalogue: