A collaborative group brimming with creative potential, Third Reel packs much musical information into the sixteen vividly expressive tracks of its debut album. Trio members Nicolas Masson, Roberto Pianca and Emanuele Maniscalco are committed improvisers and gifted writers, each with a distinct compositional signature. The contrasts, and a shared sensitivity for space, shape the group’s sonic identity. Each member of this Swiss-Italian trio is a bandleader is his own right but the cooperative Third Reel is a priority for all of them. Conceived as a trio without bass from the outset – “it means more responsibility for each player, as well as more risk-taking” – Third Reel went through various drummers until Pianca brought along Emanuele Maniscalco in 2010 (drummer and guitarist had previously collaborated in the band Food Chain). Third Reel celebrates the release of its album with concerts in Brescia (March 20), Geneva (March 21), Lugano (March 22) and Biasca (March 23). An extended European tour is in preparation for October and November.
Third Reel
Nicolas Masson, Roberto Pianca, Emanuele Maniscalco
Als Musikerkollektiv, das vor kreativem Potential strotzt, packt Third Reel reichlich musikalische Information in die sechzehn lebhaft-expressiven Tracks seines Debütalbums. Nicolas Masson, Roberto Pianca und Emanuele Maniscalco, sind alle engagierte Improvisatoren und gleichzeitig begabte Komponisten, jeder mit einer klar erkennbaren Handschrift. die daraus resultierenden Kontraste und das allen gemeinsame feine Gespür für den musikalischen Raum geben der Gruppe ihre klangliche Identität. Alle Mitglieder des Schweizerisch-Italienischen Trios unterhalten auch noch eigene Bands, aber Third Reel stellt für jeden die Priorität dar. Von beginn an als Trio ohne Bass angelegt – „das bedeutet für jeden Mitspieler mehr Verantwortung, aber erfordert auch mehr Risikobereitschaft“ – erprobte Third Reel zunächst verschiedene Schlagzeuger bis Pianca 2010 schließlich Emanuele Maniscalco (mit der er zuvor in der Band Food Chain zusammengearbeitet hatte) in die Gruppe brachte. Eine ausgedehnte Europatournee ist für Oktober und November in Planung.
- 1After All
01:27 - 2Furious Seasons
05:06 - 3Orbits
06:41 - 4Improvisation 2
02:13 - 5Bley
01:14 - 6Neuer Mond Prologue
02:18 - 7Improvisation 5
01:44 - 8Miserere
03:20 - 9Freeze
03:32 - 10Fasten
03:21 - 11Ginkgo
02:57 - 12Sparrow
04:58 - 13Spectrum
04:49 - 14Eleventh Winter Tale
03:34 - 15Improvisation 4
01:33 - 16Neuer Mond
04:36
There’s fire and ice in the improvised music of Third Reel, making their ECM debut with this new disc. The trio of reeds, guitar and drums create soundscapes ranging from the ethereal to the explosive, but with an overall sense of musical unity. [...] It is Pianca’s guitar which sets the tone for each piece – on some tracks he is in full, rip-snorting Hendrix mode and on others he plays more melodically with a straightforward sound. Strong musical imaginations are at work here, and it’s a very promising debut.
John Watson, JazzCamera.co.uk
There's no denying the influence of Motian on Italian-born, Denmark-based drummer Emanuele Maniscalco, who demonstrates a similar penchant for texture over time, even when driving jagged pieces like ‘Freeze’ with near-primal, mallet-driven toms. Representing the final piece in Third Reel's nascency puzzle, Maniscalco joined Swiss saxophonist/clarinetist Masson and Italian guitarist Roberto Pianca in 2010, after—in true 21st century fashion—the two met via social networking, trying out a number of other drummers, unsuccessfully. [...] Rather than being imitative, Third Reel expands and expounds upon the free-spirited aesthetic of the late Paul Motian's trio, injecting clear and unequivocal differentiation, especially in the writing. Masson's ‘Orbits’ may hover ethereally in a very Motian fashion, while its melody floats over Maniscalco's turbulence and Pianca's jaggedly overdriven guitar (speaking to Frisell's more aggressive edge), but amongst these 16 written and spontaneously composed miniatures—eleven well under four minutes, and only one cracking the six-minute mark)—Third Reel goes places that Motian, Frisell and Lovano never did. Masson's ‘Miserere’, comes from a more classical space, with Maniscalco's malleted toms creating a soft pulse for Pianca's warm-toned arpeggios and Masson's oblique clarinet lines. The same applies to at least part of the reed player's ‘Ginkgo’, Pianca's more fervently finger-picked support following an intro of swelled chords that lead to a brief, brushed drum solo of refined delicacy.
John Kelman, AllAboutJazz
The two opening tracks of ‘Third Reel’ neatly represent the yin and yang of the trio’s stylistic approach: guitarist Roberto Pianca’s ‘After All’, an ‘exploration of chordal colours’ (saxophonist/clarinettist Nicolas Masson’s description), is immediately followed by drummer Emanuele Maniscalco’s ‘Furious Seasons’, an appropriately turbulent, almost grungy piece that transforms the band into a (tasteful) power trio. Between these two extremes lies a lot of musical territory, and Third Reel (conceived from the outset as a bass-less trio – ‘more responsibility for each player, as well as more risk-taking’ is Masson’s explanation for this) explore a great deal of it on this, their debut (eponymous) album. Although the instrumentation brings the superb trio formed by Paul Motian, Bill Frisell and Joe Lovano to mind (and the odd Third Reel track does feature Lovanoesque smoky, warbling tenor against Frisell-like guitar flickering and swooning), the Swiss/Italian trio is more firmly rooted in free music than its illustrious US predecessor [...] overall ‘Third Reel’ is as original as it is absorbing, richly rewarding repeated immersion into its highly individual sonic world.
Chris Parker, London Jazz
A collaborative group brimming with creative potential, Third Reel packs much musical information into the sixteen vividly expressive tracks of its debut album. Trio members Nicolas Masson, Roberto Pianca and Emanuele Maniscalco are committed improvisers and gifted writers, each with a distinct compositional signature. The contrasts, and a shared sensitivity for space, shape the group’s sonic identity.
“Often we’re playing around the beautiful melodies that Emanuele brings along”, says Masson, characterizing their diverse methods. “Roberto’s pieces are frequently concerned with the exploration of chordal colours, and my own writing tends to be contrapuntal.” Third Reel’s album was recorded at Auditorio Radiotelevisione svizzera, Lugano, last February, at the instigation of Paolo Keller, and mixed and edited with Manfred Eicher. “The very pure sound in the recording room in Lugano definitely contributed to the way the album evolved. It was almost like having a fourth member of the band. That level of clarity encouraged us to aim for, as far as possible, a ‘perfect’ version of each tune, with no unnecessary embellishment.”
Each member of this Swiss-Italian trio is a bandleader is his own right but the cooperative Third Reel is a priority for all of them. A thoroughly modern proposal, the group was casually hatched via social networking: Masson calls its coming together “the first and only good thing that came out of having a MySpace account.” Roberto Pianca ‘befriended’ him after visiting his page and in turn, Masson checked out Pianca’s homepage, recognised a kindred spirit from music samples posted there and left a message on his bulletin board. Soon Pianca was travelling from Lugano to Geneva to jam. Conceived as a trio without bass from the outset – “it means more responsibility for each player, as well as more risk-taking” – Third Reel went through various drummers until Pianca brought along Emanuele Maniscalco in 2010 (drummer and guitarist had previously collaborated in the band Food Chain). Masson: “We had a fantastic concert with very little preparation, freely improvising together, and we knew at once that he was the right player for the band.”
“Often we’re playing around the beautiful melodies that Emanuele brings along”, says Masson, characterizing their diverse methods. “Roberto’s pieces are frequently concerned with the exploration of chordal colours, and my own writing tends to be contrapuntal.” Third Reel’s album was recorded at Auditorio Radiotelevisione svizzera, Lugano, last February, at the instigation of Paolo Keller, and mixed and edited with Manfred Eicher. “The very pure sound in the recording room in Lugano definitely contributed to the way the album evolved. It was almost like having a fourth member of the band. That level of clarity encouraged us to aim for, as far as possible, a ‘perfect’ version of each tune, with no unnecessary embellishment.”
Each member of this Swiss-Italian trio is a bandleader is his own right but the cooperative Third Reel is a priority for all of them. A thoroughly modern proposal, the group was casually hatched via social networking: Masson calls its coming together “the first and only good thing that came out of having a MySpace account.” Roberto Pianca ‘befriended’ him after visiting his page and in turn, Masson checked out Pianca’s homepage, recognised a kindred spirit from music samples posted there and left a message on his bulletin board. Soon Pianca was travelling from Lugano to Geneva to jam. Conceived as a trio without bass from the outset – “it means more responsibility for each player, as well as more risk-taking” – Third Reel went through various drummers until Pianca brought along Emanuele Maniscalco in 2010 (drummer and guitarist had previously collaborated in the band Food Chain). Masson: “We had a fantastic concert with very little preparation, freely improvising together, and we knew at once that he was the right player for the band.”
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