Some Time Ago

Isotope is an Italian mainstream jazz quartet — a quintet if you include the participation of Alberto Buzzi on tenor in two places. In using the term "mainstream jazz," there is no intention of being somehow belittling or articulating a political stance on the part of the players. Simply put, these individuals, who all play in other settings as well, some avant, some not, put away individual identity here to accent the common property that is this album. There is a cohesion of tonalities on the five originals here, all of them lyrical in the best sense of Italian jazz, and the up-tempo version of Bill Evans' "Peri's Scope" is solid in its articulation of Evan's scalar sensibility in the middle registers — pianist Achille Gajo, moves through a series of chromatic ranges in his solo that adds a new dimension to the original. The anchor of the unit, who can be heard solidly on every tune is bassist Stefano Dall'Ora, his wide, deep wood sound holds a foundation as his pizzicato scale work and rhythmic pattern-shifting are the turnstile this group walks on. Likewise, Franceso Manzoni's trumpet playing on "Effetti Collateralli" is warm, unrushed, and moving in its way as is his solo in reading Sam Rivers' "Beatrice," a ballad Chet Baker played and recorded often. And Manzoni doesn't copy Baker's phrasing of the lead or a hint of his solo, while Marco Castiglioni's brushwork on the tune is breathtakingly beautiful. For fans of straight-ahead jazz, this is a solid offering and runs circles around most of the Americanskis who are plying this trade currently because its played with inspiration and sensitivity, not "let-me-show-you-how-big-mine-is" mechanical articulation.