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September 8 , 2006
New Stefano Bollani CD Blazing in Italian Press
Italian media coverage of the release of Stefano Bollani’s ECM solo debut recording is spreading like wildfire. Leading national daily newspaper Corriere della Sera published a feature September 1 entitled “Bollani, magician of a piano that goes beyond jazz.”
Excerpts from the feature are included here:
“The prestigious German music label ECM is about to release his CD with the unequivocal title: “Piano Solo”. At the age of 34, the talented and eclectic jazz pianist Stefano Bollani seems to have found his own definite consecration: ‘I don’t consider this new CD as an expressive turning-point. To me it’s more like a photograph of a specific moment….’
Listening to the album, the impression is more that of a very intimate work from which emerge musical evocations of every genre. ‘In a certain sense it’s true, there are pieces of many different cultures, but it’s not what one could define as stream of consciousness. I’m an encyclopaedist, of a nearly maniac level: if I don’t know the title of a piece, even if I know the melody, I don’t manage to play it. Therefore the choices are all very precise’.
The album opens with a theme of another Italian pianist… Antonio Zambrini. “It’s beautiful, but it was the producer Manfred Eicher who fell in love with it and wanted it as the opening track. He believes a great deal in Italian jazz musicians: not only “historical” ones like Enrico Rava or Gianluigi Trovesi, but also in younger like Stefano Battaglia and myself….”
Stefano’s September 10 concert during the renowned “Settembre Musica” Festival in Turin on is long sold-out (a 2,090 seat venue). His first novel is also appearing this month; its Italian title translates as “The Syndrome of Grumpy.” Around Stefano’s busy touring schedule, Ducale, ECM’s Italian distribution partner, together with the book publisher, have organised a national FNAC promotional tour for the CD and book launch (more info here).
Stefano Bollani
Piano Solo
ECM 1964
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