The Oldest Living Thing

Back from the intriguing experience of “SPL” (in trio with Andrea Lombardini on bass guitar and Alessandro Paternesi on drums), a modern record with surprising turns, Fulvio Sigurtà is back with a more classically jazz album. Supported by Steve Swallow’s stunning bass guitar and Federico Casagrande’s refined acoustic guitar, Sigurtà’s trumpet and flugelhorn weave soft, enchanting melodies. You may let yourself be lulled by the first song and title track on this album, written by the band leader, and Casagrande’s “Sorrows And Joys Of A Lamb”. The two regularly alternate as writers of the nine original tracks on “The Oldest Living Thing”, composed by one or the other in more or less equal measure. The only virtual guest here is Ennio Morricone, who is involved thanks to an appealing reinterpretation of the theme from “Nuovo Cinema Paradiso”.  Sigurtà and his fellow travelers have looked for (and actually found) dazzling melodies throughout this fifty-minute long recording. From a musical idea unfold outstanding plots by the three instruments, with horns and guitar that often alternate with one another in leading the dance and Swallow’s bass that supports it all with valuable skill and excellent taste, watching the scene from behind the lines and emerging here and there with sophisticated virtuosities and a voice always utterly recognizable. Although the temperament and uniqueness of the sound of the powerful bass player from New Jersey is no surprise, one can rightly be a little amazed by the continuous growth of Sigurtà and Casagrande: the former has mastered a variety of timbres that would make many players envious (the intro to “Sunday Snow Flakes” is a case in point), while the latter invents sounds and harmonies that perfectly combine with the band leader’s ideas (“Travel Back”). This steadily evolving leader showed four completely different sides of his musical personality in his past four albums on CAM JAZZ: one of the talents among the new generation of Italian jazzmen who is worthy of being listened to most attentively.

Recorded and mixed in Cavalicco on 14, 15 July 2014 at Artesuono Recording Studio  Recording & mixing engineer Stefano Amerio

Photos by Andrea Boccalini

Liner notes by Brian Morton