Emancipation

Now in digipak CD format.

"I spent a lot of time thinking why Alessandro Rossi called his record Emancipation. It’s a very intriguing word. It’s different to “liberty”, it’s different to “freedom”. The latter concept has, obviously, an important role in contemporary music, even if there’s little sensible discussion of what it actually means. Emancipation, though, isn’t so much a thing or a property, as an act or a moment…

I’m a huge fan of Alessandro Rossi’s work. I like the relaxed precision of his drumming. I like his writing, which is clear, but never obvious. And I like the way he constructs his group performances, unafraid to add electronic elements in quite bold ways into what are mainly acoustic constructs. ...Rossi and his men are comfortable with the fast, harmonically complex language of late-bop (which is not quite the same thing as post-bop). But elsewhere on this remarkable recording, there are moments which betray a wider understanding of modern music and its various enthusiasms and quibbles. There is freedom. There are passages that sound as if they might have been constructed round a tone-row. There is use of space, silence and technology. Above all, there is confidence". (Brian Morton)

Recorded in Cavalicco on 8, 9, 10 June 2016 at Artesuono Recording Studio Recording engineer Stefano Amerio

Photos by Elisa Caldana

Liner notes by Brian Morton