Evanscape

Description

With his clear and balanced phrasing, rich with the entire history of modern jazz piano; that miraculous touch of precision and delicacy where the heritage of the Western classical tradition shines through in every inflection; that inimitable sensibility, at once melancholic and lyrical, which unquestionably places him among the most elegant and refined specialists of the intimate ballad - Enrico Pieranunzi is not only one of those enchanting masters of the keyboard that Italy has a secret for, but also one of the handful of European pianists who, over the last 50 years, have left their mark on the international jazz landscape. After nourishing himself, in his early days, with the most orthodox bebop, it was by accompanying American musicians passing through Rome, his hometown, that Pieranunzi, in the early 1970s, began his career as a jazz musician. He then met Johnny Griffin, and Art Farmer, then successively Chet Baker, Jim Hall, Lee Konitz - so many great musicians with whom he would record, in the following decade, some foundational albums (The Heart of The Ballad with Chet Baker, Solitude and Blew with Konitz, etc.). It was during these same years (1975) that he created his first trio and truly launched his career as a leader. From then on, multiplying sessions and personal projects, Enrico Pieranunzi would, over the years and albums (more than 80 as a leader to date), develop a personal style, both sophisticated and lush, constantly turned towards the intoxication of swing and melodic seduction. At ease in the most diverse orchestral formats (with a slight predilection for the trio and the initiatory trial of the solo), Pieranunzi would notably specialize in the art of conceiving albums around great figures from his personal pantheon - whether it be, of course, jazz musicians (cf. Infant Eyes exploring the universe of Wayne Shorter or Dukes's Dream dedicated to the Ellingtonian jungles) but also film composers (from Morricone to Nino Rota) and venerable masters of the Western classical tradition (Scarlatti, Bach, Handel, Martinu, Debussy...) magnificently revisited.