Review
by Jeff Tamarkin
Chiaroscuro at once has the feeling of inevitability and a sense of randomness about it, as if it were meant to happen, yet it's such a long shot that it ever did. Towner, the guitarist of the jazz/world/new age outfit Oregon, is an American who celebrated his 70th birthday in the year of this album's release, 2010 -- it's his 22nd for ECM. Fresu is an Italian trumpeter, not quite 50, whose only previous ECM connection (among some 300 albums he's appeared on in all) came in 2007 when he worked with pianist/composer Carla Bley on her release The Lost Chords Find Paolo Fresu. Towner and Fresu actually met some 15 years earlier, but didn't commit to recording together until now. Good thing they did, because they've made an exhilarating, affecting recording rich with great sensitivity and vibrant colors. Towner's spare, translucent acoustic 12-string and baritone guitar, and Fresu's bold, meaty trumpet and flügelhorn complement each other exceptionally well, their tight-knit interactivity and radiant melodicism reminiscent of collaborations of much longer duration. Laid bare in typically flawless ECM fidelity, their urbane compositions (most by Towner alone, the last two with Fresu) and perceptive improvisations are more like quiet conversations than contests. Each musician allows the other ample space to investigate and develop in solo format, but although their histories and perspectives are so unlike, when they meet up, they're always speaking the same language. Towner prefers a lighter touch than Fresu, but there is courageousness and respect in both of their statements. On "Wistful Thinking," the opening track (which appeared on an earlier Towner solo album), Towner's first notes feel as if they might just float away. Fresu's lines, though hardly brash and never aggressive, provide an anchor as the number builds. "The Sacred Place" is offered twice in balanced but dissimilar arrangements, while "Zephyr" is a more fully realized, more focused take on the song than the Oregon rendition that appeared on 1987's Ecotopia. "Blue in Green," the only non-original composition, can't be considered a cover of the Miles Davis/Bill Evans Kind of Blue track so much as a thorough reimagining of it -- Fresu doesn't mimic Davis; instead he suggests how the song might have developed independently of Davis had it originated someplace else. Chiaroscuro, naturally, boasts virtuosic musicianship, but it's never about that; it's about two artists coming together by chance and allowing their mutual respect to show them the way to something great.
https://www.allmusic.com/album/chiaroscuro-mw0001937310
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Reseña
por Jeff Tamarkin
Chiaroscuro tiene a la vez la sensación de inevitabilidad y de aleatoriedad, como si estuviera destinado a suceder, aunque es muy improbable que lo haga. Towner, el guitarrista del grupo de jazz/world/new age Oregon, es un estadounidense que celebró su 70º cumpleaños en el año en que se publicó este álbum, 2010, que es el 22º para ECM. Fresu es un trompetista italiano que no llega a los 50 años y cuya única conexión anterior con ECM (entre los 300 álbumes en los que ha aparecido) se produjo en 2007, cuando colaboró con la pianista y compositora Carla Bley en su disco The Lost Chords Find Paolo Fresu. Towner y Fresu se conocieron unos 15 años antes, pero no se comprometieron a grabar juntos hasta ahora. Menos mal que lo hicieron, porque han hecho una grabación estimulante y conmovedora, rica en gran sensibilidad y colores vibrantes. La sobria y translúcida guitarra acústica de 12 cuerdas y barítono de Towner, y la atrevida y carnosa trompeta y flügelhorn de Fresu se complementan excepcionalmente bien, su estrecha interactividad y radiante melodicismo recuerdan a colaboraciones de mucha mayor duración. Con la fidelidad típica de ECM, sus composiciones urbanas (la mayoría de Towner en solitario, las dos últimas con Fresu) y sus perspicaces improvisaciones son más bien conversaciones tranquilas que concursos. Cada músico deja al otro un amplio espacio para investigar y desarrollarse en formato solista, pero a pesar de que sus historias y perspectivas son tan diferentes, cuando se reúnen, siempre están hablando el mismo idioma. Towner prefiere un toque más ligero que Fresu, pero hay valentía y respeto en las declaraciones de ambos. En "Wistful Thinking", la canción que abre el disco (que apareció en un álbum anterior de Towner en solitario), las primeras notas de Towner parecen flotar. Los versos de Fresu, aunque no son descarados y nunca agresivos, proporcionan un ancla a medida que el número crece. "The Sacred Place" se ofrece dos veces con arreglos equilibrados pero diferentes, mientras que "Zephyr" es una versión más completa y centrada de la canción que la versión de Oregón que apareció en Ecotopia de 1987. "Blue in Green", la única composición no original, no puede considerarse una versión del tema Kind of Blue de Miles Davis/Bill Evans, sino más bien una reimaginación completa del mismo: Fresu no imita a Davis, sino que sugiere cómo podría haberse desarrollado la canción independientemente de Davis si se hubiera originado en otro lugar. Chiaroscuro, naturalmente, hace gala de una música virtuosa, pero nunca se trata de eso; se trata de dos artistas que se unen por casualidad y permiten que su respeto mutuo les muestre el camino hacia algo grande.
https://www.allmusic.com/album/chiaroscuro-mw0001937310
1 - Wistful Thinking 4:19
2 - Punto Giara 6:20
3 - Chiaroscuro 6:30
4 - Sacred Place 4:13
5 - Blue In Green 5:44
6 - Doubled Up 4:55
7 - Zephyr 7:28
8 - The Sacred Place (Reprise) 1:58
9 - Two Miniatures 2:38
10 - Postlude 2:31
Credits:
Classical Guitar, Twelve-String Guitar [12-String Guitar], Baritone Guitar – Ralph Towner
Design – Sascha Kleis
Engineer – Stefano Amerio
Photography By [Cover Photo] – Thomas Wunsch
Photography By [Liner Photos] – René Dalpra
Producer – Manfred Eicher
Trumpet, Flugelhorn – Paolo Fresu
Recorded October 2008
Label: ECM Records – ECM 2085, ECM Records – 179 7510
Genre: Jazz
Style: Contemporary Jazz
https://www.discogs.com/release/3238332-Ralph-Towner-Paolo-Fresu-Chiaroscuro
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