Stefano Travaglini and Achille Succi: Book of Innocence
Notami Jazz
On his fifth album as a leader or co-leader, Stefano Travaglini partners with alto saxophonist and bass clarinetist Achille Succi. Earlier recordings saw the intrepid pianist exploring ancient magyar melodies in The Hungarian Songbook (Terre Sommerse, 2013), focusing on jazz royalty with the solo set Monk (Notami Jazz, 2020), and pairing with fellow pianist Massimiliano Coclite on The Long Line (Odradek, 2019). Inspiration this time comes from a variety of sources, including abstract expressionist Mark Rothko, novelist Italo Calvino, and jazz guitarist Pat Metheny, the result an ever-stimulating, fifty-three-minute adventure.
Succi's background is as auspicious as his partner's. Born in 1971, he's highly regarded in Italian jazz circles. While he's principally self-taught, scholarships have afforded him the opportunity to study at Berklee College of Music and participate in master classes with Dave Liebman. Succi's collaborated with Uri Caine, Louis Sclavis, Ernst Reijseger, and Pierre Dorge and issued CDs of his own, including Shiva's Dance (Artesuonor, 2003) and Terra (Splasc(h), 2006). He's been a faculty member of the summer workshop Siena Jazz since 2001 and has taught clarinet improv techniques at the Ferrara Conservatory since 2006.
Recorded at Studio Sequenza in Paris, Book of Innocence begins with “Rothko,” the pianist's spiraling right-hand patterns and the gyroscopic thrust of the performance catching one's ear. While its relentless churn does make an impression, the tune's as memorable for episodes where the music slows and spotlights Succi's lustrous alto. If the piece seems less a translation of Rothko's visual style into musical form than a straight-up homage, it's no less impactful for being so, especially when the saxophonist glides confidently overtop the patterns roaring underneath. Less frenetic is “Bauci,” which, inspired by Calvino's Invisible Cities, exudes an aura of contemplative yearning in Succi's elegant bass clarinet extemporizations. Alternating between virtuosic runs and lyrical thematic statements, he's well-supported by Travaglini's sophisticated accompaniment. Slower still is “Silent Moon,” which, not surprisingly, paints an evocative picture of twilight serenity, the pianist sprinkling dashes of chords against the canvas and his partner colouring the scene with low-register notes.
Written in 1983, Metheny's “Travels” is the single cover on an album whose compositions are otherwise credited to Travaglini. The affection he and Succi feel for the tune is conveyed vividly in the heartfelt sincerity of their stately, at times blues-tinged reading. That side moves even more to the fore on “Blues for Days to Come,” which sees the two digging deeply into an early morning, blues-drenched feel. As consistently strong as it is, Book of Innocence is never better than during its title track, which caps the album with a gripping twelve-minute panorama. Six compositions by Travaglini are woven into a thoughtfully structured whole, with each part transitioning smoothly into the next. The two deliver lines in unison during one passage before veering into almost gospel-tinged territory, and the piece, by turns, romantic, ruminative, and reflective, concludes the release on a high note. Travaglini and Succi are experienced jazz players as comfortable reading charts as improvising, and each is capable of playing that runs the gamut from cerebral calculation to impassioned spontaneity. Whereas the pianist's playing tends to be more elaborate than the saxophonist's, the performances captured here reveal their styles to be wholly complementary.January 2023