Ida Lupino

Giovanni Guidi, Gianluca Petrella, Louis Sclavis, Gerald Cleaver

EN / DE
Pianist Giovanni Guidi and trombonist Gianluca Petrella, key figures in what some are hailing as a “golden age” of Italian jazz, found their strong improvisational rapport inside Enrico Rava’s band (see for instance the 2010 ECM album Tribe) and, keen to play more, formed a duo, giving many concerts in which they are intermittently joined by guests. For this studio recording, producer Manfred Eicher brought the duo together with US drummer Gerald Cleaver and French clarinetist Louis Sclavis, for an outgoing set of music which includes lyrical free improvising and tunes composed by Giovanni and Gianluca. The piece called “Gato!” tips the hat to Mr Barbieri, and title track “Ida Lupino” serves double duty as a salute to composer Carla Bley in her 80th year (Petrella once played in a big band under Carla’s direction) and as a tribute to Paul Bley, who popularized the tune and influenced so many improvisers (not least Giovanni Guidi).
Pianist Giovanni Guidi und Posaunist Gianluca Petrella, Schlüsselfiguren in jenem Phänomen, das viele als “goldenes Zeitalter” des italienischen Jazz sehen, entwickelten ihr enormes gegenseitiges Verständnis als Improvisatoren in Enrico Ravas Band (man höre beispielsweise das ECM-Album Tribe aus dem Jahr 2010). Begierig drauf, mehr zusammen zu spielen, formierten sie das Duo Soupstar und gaben, regelmäßig von Gästen unterstützt, viele gemeinsame Konzerte. Für die vorliegende Studioaufnahme brachte Produzent Manfred Eicher das dynamische Duo mit dem US-amerikanischen Schlagzeuger Gerald Clayton und dem französischen Klarinettisten Louis Sclavis zusammen. Es entstand ein Reigen von Stücken, der sowohl lyrische freie Improvisation als auch von Giovanni und Gianluca komponierte Titel umfasst. Mit dem „Gato!“ betitelten Stück ziehen sie den Hut vor dem kürzlich verstorbenen Gato Barbieri, und der Titeltrack „Ida Lupino“ dient sowohl als Salut an die Komponistin Carla Bley im Jahr ihres 80. Geburtstags (Petrella spielte einst in einer von Carla dirigierten Big Band), als auch als Tribut an Paul Bley, der dieses Stück einst popularisierte und  viele Improvisatoren nachhaltig beeinflusst hat (nicht zuletzt Giovanni Guidi).
Featured Artists Recorded

February 2015, Auditorio Stelio Molo RSI, Lugano

Original Release Date

02.09.2016

  • 1What We Talk About When We Talk About Love
    (Gerald Cleaver, Gianluca Petrella, Giovanni Guidi)
    06:42
  • 2Just Tell Me Who It Was
    (Gianluca Petrella, Giovanni Guidi)
    03:39
  • 3Jeronimo
    (Gianluca Petrella, Giovanni Guidi)
    04:05
  • 4Ida Lupino
    (Carla Bley)
    04:28
  • 5Per i morti di Reggio Emilia
    (Fausto Amodei)
    07:19
  • 6Gato!
    (Gerald Cleaver, Gianluca Petrella, Giovanni Guidi)
    09:37
  • 7La Terra
    (Gianluca Petrella, Giovanni Guidi)
    06:02
  • 8No More Calypso?
    (Gerald Cleaver, Gianluca Petrella, Giovanni Guidi, Louis Sclavis)
    04:00
  • 9Rouge Lust
    (Gerald Cleaver, Gianluca Petrella, Giovanni Guidi, Louis Sclavis)
    06:12
  • 10Things We Never Planned
    (Gerald Cleaver, Gianluca Petrella, Giovanni Guidi)
    05:20
  • 11Fidel Slow
    (Gerald Cleaver, Gianluca Petrella, Giovanni Guidi)
    05:08
  • 12Hard Walk
    (Gerald Cleaver, Gianluca Petrella, Giovanni Guidi)
    05:39
  • 13Zweig
    (Gianluca Petrella, Giovanni Guidi)
    02:47
  • 14The Gam Scorpions
    (Gianluca Petrella, Giovanni Guidi)
    06:46
Ida Lupino is a fresh and creative album, distinguished by deep listening and focused interaction. At its centre is the remarkable improvisational rapport of two Italian musicians – pianist Giovanni Guidi and trombonist Gianluca Petrella. Their musical understanding – already apparent to listeners who heard them in Enrico Rava’s band – has been further refined in a widely-travelled duo which seeks encounters with fellow improvisers. “Our duo work is really defined by our collaboration with other artists,” Guidi says. The present album both builds on established relationships and the stimulus of new encounters as they are joined by – in Petrella’s words – “two masters of contemporary jazz who are really on our wavelength”.
For this recording, Manfred Eicher brought Guidi and Petrella together with US drummer Gerald Cleaver and French clarinettist Louis Sclavis, for a set of music by turns introspective and outgoing. The Italians had played previously with Cleaver, on an early Guidi album called We Don’t Live Here Anymore, but Sclavis had never met the other musicians prior to the session at Lugano’s Stelio Molo RSI auditorium. “It’s very precious this kind of musical relationship,” Louis Sclavis says, “on the one hand, it’s very fragile but at the same time there is a strong connection between the players. We are four people for one music, and we don’t know where we’re going, but we control the journey.”
“In this album we are searching for many different things,” says Giovanni Guidi. “Improvised music has to be very democratic. At the same time, one of its components should be a sense of wonder. And the more you have a strong idea, at the concept level, the more you know you must not impose it…”
Gerald Cleaver: “I liked the completely open way Giovanni and Gianluca approached this: not telling me what they wanted, but having some sort of underlying plan, and what I had to do was basically surrender to it. That could have been difficult, but it ended up being a really enjoyable ride.”
The emphasis is on lyrical group improvising and tunes by the players, created in the moment or otherwise. There are a couple of exceptions: “Per i morti di Reggio Emilia (To the Dead of Reggio Emilia)” is a protest song penned by Turin folk singer-songwriter Fausto Amodei. And the title track, “Ida Lupino” , does double duty as a salute to composer Carla Bley in her 80th year (Petrella once played in a big band under Carla’s direction) and as a tribute to the late, great Paul Bley, who popularized the tune and influenced so many improvisers – not least Giovanni Guidi.
“I find the music we played to be above all very sincere,” says Guidi. “It is an exact photograph of where our individual journeys have brought us, and what we were able to create together. And it wouldn’t have been possible without Manfred, who is in a way the fifth musician – hearing every note, every sound, every detail…” The album was recorded and mixed in three days, in time-honoured ECM tradition. “When we listen to what we’ve played, we’re left a little speechless, because there are so many subtleties that transform the whole quality of the music.”