{"id":5112,"date":"2012-06-27T17:12:36","date_gmt":"2012-06-27T21:12:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/?p=5112"},"modified":"2012-06-27T17:12:36","modified_gmt":"2012-06-27T21:12:36","slug":"cd-bella-grinta-una-the-reckless-1965","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/?p=5112","title":{"rendered":"CD: Bella Grinta, Una \/ The Reckless (1965)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Return to<\/strong>:\u00a0Home <\/a>\/\u00a0Soundtrack \u00a0Reviews<\/a> \/ <\/em>B<\/a><\/p>\n

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\"\"<\/a>Rating: Excellent<\/p>\n

Label: Cinedelic Records (Italy)<\/a>\/ Released: October 1, 2009<\/p>\n

Tracks & Album Length: 13 tracks \/ (42:29)<\/p>\n

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Special Notes: 4-page colour booklet with liner notes by Piero Umiliani \/ Limited to 500 copies.<\/p>\n

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Composer: Piero Umiliani<\/p>\n

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Review:<\/p>\n

Cinedelic\u2019s CD (and LP) reissue of the original \u201cstrictly limited edition\u201d CAM LP brings back into circulation (albeit on a limited basis) a rare treat \u2013 Italian maestro Piero Umiliani\u2019s big band score for Una bella grinta<\/strong>, featuring Gato Barbieri on tenor sax. During the sixties, Umiliani wrote a ridiculously huge volume of music for westerns, peplum, comedies, spoofs, and dramas, but what makes Grinta<\/strong> so special is the relative intimacy of the performances in spite of the score being performed by a medium-sized jazz orchestra.<\/p>\n

The opening cue is a robust big band arrangement of the main theme, whereas subsequent arrangements tend to detail different instrumentation and styles, such as the somewhat chromatic brass within \u201cBrass Fugato,\u201d or groovy electric guitar and organ in the swinging \u201cTreno di Notte.\u201d The brilliant rays of brass within the brief \u201cBallata della Bassa Padana\u201d is equally memorable, and Umiliani creates sharp, contrast colours which drift from total harmony to near-dissonance.<\/p>\n

Grinto<\/strong> is monothematic, but Umiliani\u2019s extrapolations of figures, bass lines, and melodic sections and reinterpretations for very specific regroupings ensures the album is never monotonous. Some cues are designed to showcase specific solos \u2013 like the muted trumpet in \u201cTreno\u201d \u2013 or they blend light jazz with classic ensembles, like the flute & harpsichord in the rhythmic chamber combo for \u201cJazz alla Vivaldi.\u201d One of the issues with American jazz scores from the same era is the lack of improv, and not building cues to allow the soloist to comment on characters & scenes; in most cases, any genuine improvisations tend to be isolated to source cues.<\/p>\n

Many of the Grinta <\/strong>cues also run more than 2-3 minutes, allowing the listener to get into a theme\u2019s variation, become sated by its distinct qualities, and be surprised by the next effort.<\/p>\n

In terms of star Barbieri, he gets to muscle out from the band in very select instances, such as the hard bop rendition \u201cUna Bella Grinta,\u201d sharing time with pianist F.D. Andrea and E. Rava on trumpet; and \u201cBallata della Padana (3)\u201d with Barbieri\u2019s solo progressing from romantic to intense. More than prior improv-based cues, the third variation of \u201cPadana\u201d echoes the chord progressions of John Coltrane\u2019s Blue Note recordings, but each musician manages to show his own finesse.<\/p>\n

The album\u2019s final cues are a great mix of little dramatic statements, ranging from Barbieri\u2019s short solo lament (\u201cLontananza\u201d) to his streaming counterpoint against a furious rhythm track (the epic-sized \u201cSequenza Autostrada\u201d) pushed by bassist E. Munari. \u201cFree Theme\u201d is mostly a looped theme rendition with soloists backed by heavy drums prior to a sudden pause for quiet electric guitar, whereas the fourth variation of \u201cPadana\u201d gives pianist D\u2019Andrea a short cue to provide some slight improv work. The final cue \u2013 also under 2 mins. \u2013 features the Hammond organ, which is a suitable ending for the CD, given Italian jazz wholeheartedly embraced the wild sounds of the electric organ in so many jazz, lounge, and rock-fusion scores of the era.<\/p>\n

The original tape source has some wear, but it\u2019s a warm mono recording with good bass, and clarity for brass and woodwinds. Cinedelic\u2019s reproduction of the original LP art is another plus, showing off the simple yet striking geometric design and photo inserts.<\/p>\n

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\u00a9 2012 Mark R. Hasan<\/p>\n

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External References:<\/p>\n

IMDB <\/a>— Soundtrack Album<\/a> — Composer Filmography<\/a><\/p>\n

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Return to<\/strong>:\u00a0Home <\/a>\/\u00a0Soundtrack Reviews<\/a> <\/em>\/\u00a0B<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Return to:\u00a0Home \/\u00a0Soundtrack \u00a0Reviews \/ B . Rating: Excellent Label: Cinedelic Records (Italy)\/ Released: October 1, 2009 Tracks & Album Length: 13 tracks \/ (42:29) . Special Notes: 4-page colour booklet with liner notes by Piero Umiliani \/ Limited to 500 copies. . Composer: Piero Umiliani . . Review: Cinedelic\u2019s CD (and LP) reissue of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false},"categories":[20],"tags":[1381],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8nuyW-1ks","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5112"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5112"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5112\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5148,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5112\/revisions\/5148"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5112"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5112"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5112"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}