Bagdad Boogie

Following up his 1989 release with the same quartet, Ankara Twist, Italian multi-reedman Carlo Actis Dato essentially reproduced it with Bagdad Boogie [sic]. His basic compositional approach, taking cleanly articulated melodic statements more or less derived from various ethnic sources and freely improvising on them, is carried intact from the previous effort. While enjoyable in and of itself, this makes for the slightly disquieting feeling that Dato's group had become overly comfortable in its niche and the listener often wants to hear more stretching of boundaries. Given that, the music is still quite enjoyable and easily appreciated, replete with catchy themes, doses of broad humor, and solid playing from each member of the ensemble. Fans of Willem Breuker will find much to enjoy here while those looking for an introduction into the Italian jazz scene could do worse than to start with Dato.