Lost Songs -- Live at Abbazia di Rosazzo Winery

"Our standard metaphor for duo improvisation is still conversation, even though the analogy breaks down all over the place. What kind of conversation is it when both parties speak at once, for instance? We tend to shy away from other, more obvious comparisons, like dance, because we’re still a little uncomfortable imagining two big guys in hold, whirling romantically round the floor.  Here’s a duo that underlines just how weak any attempt to explain the chemistry in words is bound to be. Is it a conversation? Yes, sometimes. Right at the beginning, Casagrande sets out a quiet, thoughtful proposition, before Bearzatti comes in with his own fuller and more defined articulation of it. At other moments on these pieces, all of them compositions by the saxophone player, there are elements of dance, even when there is no explicit dance rhythm involved. Sometimes, there’s an almost mathematical elegance to the conjunction of elements, which isn’t a belittling thought: mathematics is the most elegant of all the arts.  The only logical conclusion is that these “lost songs” – how did they come to be lost? how were they found again? or is this simply another metaphor for their deliciously faraway manner? – don’t lend themselves to analysis. They simply have to be heard and it’s astonishing how music so calmly unassertive should be so commanding, too. Bearzatti and Casagrande invite us in at the beginning and hold us right to the end".  (Brian Morton)

Recorded Live at Abbazia di Rosazzo Winery (Italy) on 8 June 2017 Recording engineer Stefano Amerio

Photos by Elisa Caldana