Opening with the Léo Ferré-penned title track immediately we are in richly melodic territory and Guidi has that impossibly persuasive touch that invites us warmly in, the bass of Thomas Morgan almost desultorily picking out wistful ideas towards the end.
Stephen Graham, Marlbank
42 Minuten, das reicht. Keine Note zu viel, keine weitschweifigen Alleingänge: Voller Konzentration lotet Giovanni Guidi auf ‚Avec le Temps‘ die acht Stücke aus. […] Geschlossen wird das Album dann mit Guidis Hommage an den von ihm bewunderten polnischen Trompeter Tomasz Stanko - der es wie wenige andere verstand, Vergänglichkeit, auch Verletzlichkeit, in Töne zu kleiden. […] Für ‚Avec le Temps‘ hat Guidi sein Stammtrio erweitert: Neben dem US-Bassisten Thomas Morgan und dem portugiesischen Drummer Joâo Lobo spielen hier auch Gitarrist Roberto Cecchetto und Saxofonist Francesco Bearzatti. ‚Inferno‘, so nennt Guidi dieses Ensemble, dabei lebt dieses Inferno aus der Spannung zwischen kontrollierten Momenten der Ruhe und den Ausbrüchen. Es ist eine Gratwanderung zwischen der Jazztradition und Exkursionen in freie Bereiche - kammermusikalische Themen, die neben Stanko viel dem Werk eines Enrico Pieranunzi schulden oder auch eines Enrico Rava, mit dem sowohl Guidi als auch Cechetto gespielt haben. Guidis drittes Album für das ECM-Label macht sich gut als Visitenkarte: Einer der spannendsten jungen Jazzer Europas steht da in Großbuchstaben.
Ralf Dorschel, Norddeutscher Rundfunk
Pianist Giovanni Guidi’s ‘Avec Le Temps’ opens with a penetrating take on the title cut, a somber French chanson by composer/lyricist Léo Ferré. But Guidi’s touch on the keys is so light, and his interplay with bassist Thomas Morgan and drummer João Lobo so thoughtful, that a quiet optimism subsumes the tone’s doleful message.(‘In time, all love fades.’) By opening with such a known song, the only non-original here, Guidi establishes melodic sensibility as the album’s precedent. […] Like the album opener, the last tune here tugs at the heart. ‘Tomasz’, an homage to Stánko, who passed away in July 2018 at age 76, features the trio in an affecting melodic contemplation with an extended outro. The tune, a reluctant goodbye to an honored musician, seems to have trouble concluding. In in time all love fades, for Guidi that time hasn’t yet come.
Suzanne Lorge, Downbeat
Guidi is one of ECM's more compelling pianists; on ‘Avec le Temps’ his dedication to lyricism is weighted in equal portion with his inquisitive, restless will to improvise as he's ably supported by his sidemen.
Thom Jurek, All Music
Die Adaption von ‚Avec Le Temps‘ ist natürlich eine melancholisch-sehnsuchtsvolle Verbeugung vor dem großen Poeten, Komponisten und Chansonnier Léo Ferré, und ‚Tomasz‘ ist eine ungemein detailreiche Hommage an den vor einem Jahr verstorbenen polnischen Trompeter Tomasz Stanko – beides sind aber vor allem auch hochkarätige Aushängeschilder für die hohe Kunst des Trio-Spiels. Mit welch kreativem Einfallsreichtum und Fingerspitzengefühl Guidi, Morgan und Lobo da interagieren! Dasselbe gilt aber auch für die restlichen sechs Titel, auf denen der Tenorsaxophonist Francesco Bearzatti und der Gitarrist Roberto Cecchetto – ebenso gute alte Bekannte Guidis – spannende Ideen und ein breites Spektrum an weiteren Klangfarben ins musikalische Geschehen einbringen.
Peter Füßl, Kultur
‘Avec le temps’ as an album is very worthy of praise. Essentially, Guidi has expanded on his trio, Thomas Morgan on double bass and João Lobo on drums, with the addition of Francesco Bearzatti on tenor saxophone and Roberto Cecchetto on guitar. Some of the eight compositions, like the title track itself, are trio based, whilst other tunes allow for the full quintet of musicians to contribute. The title track is a beautiful interpretation of a yearning song of love and loss by the Monaco born poet-composer-chansonnier Léo Ferré. The melody and atmosphere of Ferré’s ‘Avec le temps’, one of the classics of the French chanson repertoire, are explored in new detail by Guidi and bassist Morgan. The way Guidi incorporates other instruments into his music is masterful. On ‘15th of August’ and ‘No Taxi’ I am reminded of how skilfully drummer Paul Motian used to do this when leading his bands featuring Bill Frisell and Joe Lovano. And these two tracks share that kind of post-bop vibe that journeys from intricate passages of interplay through to colourful and engaging improvisation. Much of Guidi’s playing and composing is melodic, but he’s obviously not averse to delving into the more avant-garde nature of things, as can be heard on ‘Postludium and a kiss’. A difficult listen this tune, but very rewarding given the chance. Yet it’s the delicate nature of the pianist’s music that provides most of the high points, none more so than on ‘Tomasz’, the touching tribute to the late Tomasz Stanko.
Mike Gates, UK Vibe
In bestechend schönen Melodien reflektiert der italienische Pianist Giovanni Guidi die Lyrics von ‚Avec le Temps‘ als liebevolle Hommage an den französischen Chansonnier, Dichter und Komponisten Leo Ferré (1916-1993), von dem der Song stammt. Gleichzeitig zeigt sich in Guidis Interpretation der kreative Einfluss von Thomas Morgan, der mit kraftvoll intoniertem Bass-Spiel die poetischen Improvisationen des Leaders erdet.
Gerd Filtgen, Stereo
Léo Ferré’s ‘Avec le temps’ is one of the most exquisite sad songs ever written (‘Avec le temps va tout s’en va / On oublie le visage et l’on oublie la voix…’). Giovanni Guidi is a lyric poet of the piano. The combination of the two, assembled for the title track of Guidi’s new album, is a natural. The pianist’s touch is at its most effecting on a piece like this, with never a note wasted as he searches for the song’s essence. But it’s not just him and Ferré. It’s Thomas Morgan, the double bassist who combines Gary Peacock’s ardent fluidity with Charlie Haden’s deep soul, suffused with a pensive quality that is all his own. It’s also João Lobo, who adds a dimension that makes this group something more than a conventional piano trio, his discreet splashes, scrapes and sussurations disrupting the perfection in a subtle and highly creative way. It’s a seductive start, but the album has much more to offer. […] This is one of the finest groups in contemporary jazz, and ‘Avec le temps’ is not to be missed.
Richard Williams, The Blue Moment
Ein Ereignis ist bereits dieses Titelstück von Giovanni Guidis aktueller CD. Doch die gewinnt mit jedem Stück noch mehr an Profil. Zum einen: Man weiß nie, was folgt. Zum anderen: Alles wirkt organisch. Auf diesem Album gibt es keine verlässliche Masche. Jedes Stück überrascht. Manche tun dies sogar sehr – und doch wirkt dabei nichts bemüht anders. […] Ein Album voller Farben, voller Nuancen, voller Unterschiede. Zeit kann hier ungestüm dahinrasen – und an vielen Stellen fast stehenbleiben in einer Zartheit und Schönheit, die ganz selten sind. Es endet mit einer Verbeugung vor dem großen polnischen Trompeter Tomasz Stanko und seiner Musik. Und man hört: Jazz als Kunst der Fingerspitzen. Augenblicke, die eben nicht verfliegen.
Roland Spiegel, Bayerischer Rundfunk
This latest album, ‘Avec Le Temps’, from pianist Giovanni Guidi and his friends, is a fitting tribute to Mr. Stanko musical genius. Mr. Stanko, known for his particular style of free jazz and avant-garde, would certainly be at peace with the album’s tonal sophistication and balanced tempos perfectly proportions in this repertoire: strong, resilient rhythms, thoughtful, colorful textures, detailed phrasing and a vivid feeling for the music visionary quality and unpredictability. Among the outstanding pieces are ‘Caino,’ ‘Ti Stimo,’ and ‘No Taxi.’ They range from the melancholy or sultry to the energetic or fiery. From first to last, these performances are genuine, intuitive emotions, poignant at the end, intensified by the celebratory beauty of the music.
Jean-Keith Fagon, Hill Rag
La versione di ‘Avec le temps’, che apre il disco, è subito magistrale, rispettosa e libera ad un tempo, come se Ferré l’avesse scritta per trio jazz (che è poi l’organico base del disco, cui in buona parte dei brani si aggiungono il sax tenore di Francesco Bearzatti e la chitarra di Roberto Cecchetto). Vi si coglie tutto il lirismo dolente che la contraddistingue, quasi epicizzato – sempre con estremo pudore – dal trattamento cui Guidi e i suoi la sottopongono. […] La seconda quaterna di brani, tutti targati Guidi, rinsalda l’immagine di un album di grande spessore ed eleganza, svolto in un clima concentrato e assorto, a tratti solenne, che però si apre a bagliori improvvisi, impennate e colpi d’ala, il tutto sopra una base ritmica mobile, mai scontata, non di rado solcata come da un fremito febbrile, un’urgenza che altrove si placa, si quintessenzia mirabilmente.
(The version of ‘Avec le temps’, which opens the album, is immediately masterful, respectful and free at the same time, as if Ferré had written it for a jazz trio (which is then the base of the album, to which in most of the songs are added the tenor sax by Francesco Bearzatti and the guitar by Roberto Cecchetto). It captures all the painful lyricism that distinguishes it, almost epicized - always with extreme modesty - by the treatment that Guidi and his own give it. […] the second group of tracks, all by Guidi, reinforces the image of an album of great depth and elegance, played in a concentrated and absorbed atmosphere, sometimes solemn, but that opens to sudden flashes, soaring and wing strokes, all over a mobile rhythmic base, never taken for granted, often furrowed as if by a feverish tremor, an urgency that elsewhere calms down, quintessentially admirably.)
Alberto Bazurro, La Isola Non Cera
The set presents an intriguing contrast between collective quietism and individual free expression, the often-haunting themes supporting solos that open out in unexpected ways. Guidi himself is best heard in full romantic flow on ‘Caino’ and is subtlety itself on ‘Johnny The Liar’, while guitarist Cecchetto plays the beautiful melody of ‘Ti Stimo’ with great feeling, Lobo stroking the edge of his cymbals to accompany him with barely perceptible scratches of sound. An affectionate trio tribute to trumpeter Tomasz Stanko ends the set. For its mix of the beautiful and the unexpected, the traditional and adventurous, this set cannot be bettered.
Simon Adams, Jazz Journal