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Of Strings and Bridges
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SLAMCD 577
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"Of strings and bridges"
SLAMCD 577 Barcode: 50 28386 62142 3
‘MU’
Adriano Lanzi - amplified acoustic guitar, effects
Federica Vecchio – cello
"MU" started to explore the interaction of cello and guitar in 2015, keeping the instruments in their most naked and purely acoustic dimension. A very minimal use of electronics became part of the game along the way. Their music is equally shaped by free improvisation and by compositional process (the latter in various degrees of strictness and openness), so they draw from their different musical idioms and backgrounds and revisit them with a freshness and freedom that would not be possible otherwise.
Adriano Lanzi has been playing with the rockjazz quartet El Topo, with the electroacoustic trio K-Mundi, with "rock in opposition" veteran Geoff Leigh, and with west african griot Siriman Kanoutè, among others. Perugia Conservatory graduate Federica Vecchio has been a member of Symphonica Nova Ars orchestra; she took part in movie soundtrack recordings with the Orchestra Italiana del Cinema, and she is currently performing with Musicomici trio, with the post rock band ET//AL, with the Sharareh String Quartet.
Also available through all digital outlets, including:
Amazon.co.uk https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01M0XBJ6P iTunes https://geo.itunes.apple.com/gb/album/of-strings-and-bridges/id1157504223 eMusic http://www.emusic.com/album/mu/of-strings-and-bridges/16986699/ Spotify https://open.spotify.com/album/1Mv0vNJcNvlwWYqGZpgR8G
Hear this CD at - https://www.rockit.it/mu-duo/album/of-strings-and-bridges/38051
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"Of Strings and Bridges"
Group ‘MU’
Adriano Lanzi - amplified acoustic guitar, effects
Federica Vecchio – cello
Tracks
1) Cicero pro domo sua (Lanzi) 5’01"
2) Il primissimo kiwi (Lanzi) 3’18"
3) Dobbs (Lanzi – Vecchio) 6’26" (improvisation)
4) The return of the transparent giant space squid from the sixth dimension (Lanzi) 3’44"
5) Giochi ritmici contro i tipi da spiaggia (Lanzi) 4’42"
6) The fall of the house of Usher (Lanzi – Vecchio) 1’58’’ (improvisation)
7) Usanza continentale (Lanzi) 3’10"
8) Baby Blue (Lanzi – Vecchio) 2’33" (improvisation)
9) Poliedri (Lanzi) 4’48"
10) Medusa (Lanzi – Vecchio) 2’00" (improvisation)
11) Love in outer space (Sun Ra) 5’49"
Recorded, mixed and mastered in KiwiStudio, Rome, spring 2015 to spring 2016, by Adriano Lanzi.
Composizioni ambientate
in una solida e struggente scenografia, pensierosa quanto affascinante come
quella del
Mar Mediterraneo. Franco Piersanti, tra le sue innumerevoli produzioni che
fino a questo momento gli hanno valso tre trionfi al David di Donatello come
miglior musicista, ne possiede una che un po’ tutti noi conosciamo: "Il Commissario Montalbano". Del successo stratosferico della serie (e sono i numeri
che oggettivamente lo dimostrano) nessuno può dibatterne e grossa parte di
questa riuscita va alla colonna sonora
di Piersanti, un mediterranean folk prodotto, però, da un musicista che fa
sentire prepotentemente il suo tocco classico. Unita alla scenografia dei
racconti di Camilleri il risultato è una simbiosi tra il fascinoso, il
romantico ed il malinconico.
Sulla scia di questa
corrente musicale, in cui l’ambientazione e la scenografia sono descritte
tramite l’utilizzo del
folk (protagonista la chitarra) e strumenti di derivazione orchestrale (il
violoncello nel caso in questione), si colloca un duo di nome MU. Originari del Lazio, gli artisti
in esame si chiamano Adriano Lanzi e Federica Vecchio.
A leggere i titoli
delle undici tracce presenti nel loro album "Of Strings And Bridges" e anzitutto dopo averne
ascoltata la musica non sembra un mistero se il mare ne risulti uno, o meglio, il
protagonista indiscusso. In particolar modo è il mare stesso ad essere
descritto come un ecosistema a sé, un universo parallelo al mondo circostante
che la sola accarezzata improvvisazione jazz o la lambita elettronica
utilizzata faranno in modo di isolarla completamente dal resto. In "Of Strings
And Bridges", dunque, si intravedono scene di vita estiva in spiaggia, con i
suoi giochi e la sua spensieratezza, le creature degli abissi più profondi,
mitizzate ed alienanti oppure le forme geometriche ("Poliedri") di uno scoglio
con i propri riflessi blu umanizzati.
Il ruolo
dell’accoppiata chitarra e violoncello ha l’obiettivo di ricreare ansia e
dolcezza insieme, apprensione e serenità con un utilizzo del cantato tendente allo zero. A parlare
sono solo gli accordi, spesso arpeggiati, sulle corde del
primo strumento e distorti ed allungati su quelle del secondo. Salvo Montalbano, con le sue
nuotate riflessive ed isolate, accompagnate dal piano di Piersanti, ha
suggerito, per chi ancora (stranamente) non lo avesse capito, che ciò che ci
circonda, la natura e gli avvenimenti che ci accadono possono essere abilmente
riconciliati.
C’è chi invece, come i
MU, per farlo, impugna una chitarra o abbraccia un violoncello ricreando una
musica da camera con vista su spiaggia e Mar Mediterraneo.
Compositions set in a solid and stunning
scenery, thoughtful as fascinating as that of the Mediterranean
Sea. Franco Piersanti, among his countless productions that up to
this point have won three triumphs at David of Donatello as best musician, has
one that we all know a bit: "The Commissioner Montalbano". Of the
stratospheric success of the series (and they are the numbers that objectively
show it) no one can argue and a big part of this success goes to the soundtrack
of Piersanti, a Mediterranean folk produced by a musician who makes his
classical touch exaggerated. Combined with the scenery of Camilleri's tales,
the result is a symbiosis between fascinating, romantic and melancholy.
In the wake of this musical current, where the
setting and scenography are described through the use of folk (guitar
protagonist) and orchestral derivative instruments (the cello in the case in question),
there is a duo named MU. Originating from Lazio, the artists in question are
called Adriano Lanzi and Federica Vecchio.
To read the titles of the eleven tracks in
their album "Of Strings And Bridges" and above all after listening to
the music it does not seem a mystery if the sea turns out to be one, or rather,
the undisputed protagonist. Particularly, the sea itself is described as an
ecosystem to itself, a universe parallel to the surrounding world that the only
jazz improvised jazz or electronic chime used will make it completely isolate
it from the rest. In "Of Strings And Bridges", therefore, there are
scenes of summer life on the beach, with its games and carefree, the creatures
of the deepest, mythical and alienated abyss, or the geometric shapes
("Poliedri") of a rock With its humanized blue reflections.
The role of the coupled guitar and cello is to
recreate anxiety and sweetness together, apprehension and serenity with the use
of the singing that tends to zero. Speaking are just the chords, often ar-
rupted, on the strings of the first instrument and distorted and stretched over
those of the second instrument. Except Montalbano, with his reflexive and
isolated swims, accompanied by Piersanti's plan, he suggested, for those who
still (strangely) did not understand that what surrounds us, the nature and the
events that happen to us can be cleverly reconciled.
There are those who, like MUs, do so, either hold a guitar or
embrace a cello playing room music with views of the beach and the Mediterranean Sea.
www.rockit.it/recensione/38051/mu-duo-of-strings-and-bridges Danilo
Giordano 01/09/2017
Adriano Lanzi e Federica Vecchio sono il duo MU artefice di "Of Strings And Bridges", un album d’esordio articolato e intenso, acutamente patrocinato dalla britannica SLAM che in Italia sa bene dove rastrellare le menti più valide della nostra scena musicale. Attivo da anni, Adriano Lanzi (chitarrista, compositore e anche abile manipolatore di suoni) è infatti tra i più interessanti nomi della scena alternativa romana, quella che spazia dal rock al pop, dall’elettronica alla libera improvvisazione. Nel tempo ha saputo scegliersi bei compagni di merenda (Amy Denio, Geoff Leigh, Le Borg, Stefano Giaccone) e suscitare progetti obliqui (El Topo, K-Mundi), tenendo ferma la barra del timone su proposte espressive dense e prive di compromessi. Federica Vecchio, giovane violoncellista anch’essa romana, ha studiato muovendosi tra i conservatori di Santa Cecilia e Perugia, continuando poi a formarsi e a misurarsi in ambiti trasversali e non solo colto-accademici. Il Quartetto Sharareh, Simphonica Nova Ars, l’Orchestra Italiana del Cinema, il trio Musicomici e la band post-rock ET//AL raccontano da soli la versatilità e la curiosità del suo approccio allo strumento. Si narra che nel misterioso continente perduto di MU vi fossero 64 razze diverse sparse tra milioni di abitanti. Ascoltando Of Strings And Bridges" questo dato impressionante sembra riflettersi nella molteplice varietà estetica e rizomica disseminata all’interno della sue undici tracce, cesellate e confezionate pazientemente dalla coppia nel corso di un anno, con un prevalente interesse per la scrittura rispetto alla pura improvvisazione. Nella scaletta, però, le due prassi si intersecano e mescolano tra di loro, confondendo di continuo l’ascoltatore sulla reale natura e origine del suono. Sulla carta Dobbs e Baby Blue sono brani improvvisati ma le loro linee morbide e ricercate sconfinano nella forma-canzone mentre al contrario The Return Of The Transparent Giant Space Squid From The Sixth Dimension, Usanza continentale e Poliedri cavillanno su processi e strutture atonali, giochi intermittenti di luci e ombre, deliqui titillanti e accordi timbricamente rugosi o dissonanti, misurati effetti elettronici, circolarità ipnotiche e spettrali. Dialogando e replicandosi a vicenda, chitarra acustica e violoncello palesano una vitalità estrema, parlando un linguaggio fresco e attuale, fuori dalla consueta retorica delle rispettive storie e tradizioni. Le trame suggestive e singolari, spesso anche piacevolmente accessibili, di Cicero pro domo sua, Il primissimo kiwi e Love In Outer Space (quest’ultima del genio alieno Sun Ra) meritano applausi e lusinghieri apprezzamenti, allargati alla bravura dei musicisti e alla consistenza creativa di questa gemma d’album capace di placare la vostra sete di novità.
Adriano Lanzi and Federica Vecchio are the duo MU author of "Of Strings And Bridges", a complex and intense debut album, pointedly sponsored by the British SLAM in Italy knows where raking longer valid minds of our music scene. Active for years, Adriano Lanzi (guitarist, composer and also skilled manipulator of sounds) is in fact one of the most interesting names of the Roman alternative scene, one that ranges from rock to pop, from electronics to free improvisation. Over time he has been able to choose good companions snack (Amy Denio, Geoff Leigh, The Borg, Stefano Giaccone) and stir oblique projects (El Topo, K-Mundi), while holding the tiller of dense expressive proposals, and uncompromising. Federica Old, young cellist Roman also, studied moving among conservatives of Santa Cecilia and Perugia, continuing to form and to compete in cross-cutting areas, and not only caught-academic. The Sharareh Quartet, SiMphonica Ars Nova, the Italian Orchestra of Cinema, the Musicomici trio and the post-rock band // ET AL tell yourself the versatility and curiosity of his approach to the instrument. Olindo Fortino 29/01/2017 http://www.soundcontest.com/recensioni/mu-of-strings-and-bridges-review-by-olindo-fortino/ GOOGLE TRANSLATE: It is said that in the mysterious lost continent of MU there were 64 different breeds scattered among millions of inhabitants. Listening Of Strings And Bridges "this impressive figure seems to be reflected in the multiple varieties and aesthetic rizomica disseminated within its eleven tracks, chiseled and packaged patiently by the couple in the course of a year, with an overriding interest in writing with respect to pure improvisation. In the lineup, though, the two practices intersect and mingle with each other, constantly confusing the listener about the true nature and origin of the sound. On paper Dobbs and Baby Blue are improvised pieces but their soft lines and refined border on song format while on the contrary The Return Of The Giant Space Squid Transparent From The Sixth Dimension, Tradition Continental and Polyhedra cavillanno of processes and atonal structures, intermittent games of lights and shadows, and swoons titillanti agreements tonally rough or dissonant, measured electronic effects, hypnotic circularity and ghostly. Dialoguing and replicating each other, acoustic guitar and cello reveal an extreme vitality, talking a cool language and present, out of the usual rhetoric of their respective histories and traditions. The evocative and unique textures, often also pleasantly accessible, Cicero pro domo sua, The very first kiwi and Love In Outer Space (the latter of the Sun Ra) alien genius deserve applause and flattering, widened to the skill of the musicians and the creative consistency this gem of albums that can quench your thirst for novelty.
The music of MU is an exploration of these two instruments’ interface and their crossing point and to investigate these facets both artists have brought to the table their individual experiences and musical dialects. Lanzi has mixed familiarities with jazz-rock, electro-acoustic and with storytelling and music from West Africa. Vecchio performs in post rock and a string quartet, as well as for cinema in a soundtrack orchestra.
The album is an interesting blend of composition and free improv and adding these alternate musical planes to their diverse processes brings a welcome sparkle to the mix. Some electronics have been stirred in but fairly minimally, never to interfere with the notion of the acoustic elements. Neither this nor any other aspect of the music interrupts the flow of this investigative dialogue and their new discoveries take the duo forward to an acute integration of their dissimilar languages.
Another way of listening to this album would be to imagine it as complement to an enactment or action or indeed a silent film. Yes, that is different to their approach as they have recently (October 2016, Perugia) provided a concrete illustration of the breadth of their dialectic following the duo’s proposal to screen The Golem: How He Came into the World, a German expressionist cinema landmark from 1920. The silent film was accompanied by the duo with their new soundtrack, written and extemporized live as a complete performance, which emphasized the profoundly edgy and unending pulsation which emanates from the film and its theme, which presaged the onset of Nazi persecution.
Perhaps you could take the music and perform as its accompaniment? Ken Cheetham http://www.jazzviews.net/mu-ndash-of-strings-and-bridges.html
The duo MU consists of Adriano Lanzi on amplified acoustic guitar and "effects" along with Federica Vecchi playing the cello for a collection of free thinking compositions and improvisations. Lanzi does most of the composing, with some bowed stings and guitar picking creating some pastoral moods on "Cicero Pro Doma Sua" while the strings muse together on "Poliedri." The four improvisations range from the melancholy "Dobbs" to chiming strings on "The Fall of the House of Usher" while the read of Sun Ra’s " Love In Outer Space" begs for more from his songbook. Intrepid interplay. George W. Harris • October 31, 2016 http://www.jazzweekly.com
Il duo chitarra e violoncello non è molto frequentato nel jazz o nella musica di confine. Adriano Lanzi e Federica Vecchio, riuniti sotto la sigla Mu, esordiscono proprio in questo tipo di formazione e pubblicano il loro primo disco per la Slam Records, etichetta inglese aperta verso territori audaci e avventurosi. Al contrario, Of strings and Bridges contiene una proposta abbordabile, provvista di linee melodiche sinuose e accoglienti, ben lontana dal target consueto della produzione della casa britannica. La musica del cd, inoltre, è in buona parte scritta. Solo due brani si presentano come improvvisazioni, ma non si percepisce, in questo caso, nessuno iato con le takes firmate da uno dei due o insieme dalla coppia. Prevalgono, all'interno delle tracce, i tempi moderati e il ritmo non è mai marcato in modo risoluto. Si assiste, infatti, ad un dialogo su toni pastosi o appena increspati, dove è ben avvertibile la capacità di ascolto reciproco fra Lanzi e Vecchio. La chitarra articola frasi, idee di motivo in via di definizione, che reitera e mette in circolo. Il violoncello risponde spesso spargendo suoni lunghi e vellutati, con un retrogusto malinconico. In alcuni frangenti la musicista batte decisa con l'archetto sulle corde per farle vibrare come uno strumento a percussione o va a pescare qualche effetto fuori dall'ambito tonale. Anche il chitarrista romano si concede qualche licenza, trattando il suo strumento in maniera libera e disinibita. Sono brevi parentesi, però, tutto è sempre sotto attento controllo.
Fra gli undici pezzi, si distingue in particolare Giochi ritmici contro i tipi da spiaggia, non solo per il titolo stravagante, ma per la varietà dei climi racchiusi nello stesso, fra una prima parte non ben tornita, volutamente, in contrasto fra violoncello e chitarra, una parte centrale melodica, di impronta new age e un finale ritmico, in uno stile vicino al barocco-pop.
Of strings and Bridges è un album che, come suggerisce il titolo, cerca di costruire ponti, elementi di contatto fra i diversi generi. D'altro canto, Adriano Lanzi e Federica Vecchio provengono da mondi contigui, ma non sempre comunicanti, come il rock avanzato, il sinfonico contemporaneo e zone limitrofe. In quest' opera i Mu hanno lavorato parecchio per realizzare un disco difficilmente classificabile, al di fuori delle categorie, in cui quello che conta veramente è la freschezza del confronto, del dialogo fra i due giovani compositori e strumentisti.
GOOGLE TRANSLATE
The duo guitar and cello is not very popular in jazz or in the border music. Adriano Lanzi and Federica Vecchio, reunited under the name of Mu, their debut in this type of training, and released their first album for the Slam Records, a British label open to bold and adventurous territories. On the contrary, Of strings and Bridges contains a proposed affordable, equipped with sinuous melodic lines, comfortable, well away from the usual target of production of the British home. To the record, it is also largely written. Only two tracks are presented as improvisation, but is not perceived, in this case, no gap with the takes signed by one of the two or together by the pair. Prevail, within tracks, moderate times and the pace is never pronounced resolutely. There is, in fact, to a dialogue on mellow tones or slightly crinkled, which is very noticeable the mutual listening skills between Lanzi and Old. The guitar articulated phrases, ideas of reason to be defined, which reiterates and circulates. The cello often responds by spreading long tones and velvety, with a melancholy aftertaste. In some circumstances the musician beats strong with a bow on the strings to make them vibrate like a percussion instrument, or goes fishing some effect outside the tonal. Even the Roman guitarist gives some license, dealing with his instrument in a free and uninhibited. Are brief periods, however, everything is always under careful supervision.
Among the eleven pieces, it is distinguished in particular rhythmic games against types of beach, not only for the title extravagant, but for the variety of climates enclosed in the same, between a first part not well turned, deliberately, in contrast between cello and guitar , a central part melodic, new age footprint and a rhythmic finale, in a style close to baroque-pop.
Of strings and Bridges is an album that, as the title suggests, seeks to build bridges, the contact elements between the various genres. On the other hand, Adriano Lanzi and Federica Vecchio come from neighboring worlds, but not always communicating, such as advanced rock, contemporary symphonic and surrounding areas. In this' work Mu have worked hard to achieve a disc is difficult to classify, outside of categories, where what really matters is the freshness of the confrontation, the dialogue between the two young composers and instrumentalists.
Gianni Montano http://www.jazzconvention.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=3125:mu-of-strings-and-bridges&catid=2:recensioni&Itemid=11
" MU is a recently formed acoustic duo consisting of Adriano Lanzi, roman guitar player who’s been active in a number of projects (among them the rock-jazz band El Topo and the electroacoustic trio K-Mundi), and Federica Vecchio, cellist who’s been a member of Symphonica Nova Ars Orchestra and the post rock band ET//AL . Recorded for the British SLAM, a label which specializes in contemporary jazz, the album alternates - and more importantly blends coherently - improvised and written parts, the latter composed by Lanzi in a cultivated, intimist idiom that brings to mind, even in the imagery of some titles, the lyrical vein of John Fahey, and some of the out-of-the-box creativity of such guitarists as Frith or Ribot, always putting invention before virtuosity. As the two instruments chase each other, and as the mood of the improvised, surprising rhythmic tricks affect the the pensive, refined composed moments and vice versa, a minimalistic map of an imaginary landscape is drawn, finding an apt conclusion in a languorous version of Sun Ra’s Love in Outer Space. " (Vittore Baroni)
I due musicisti dietro Mu sono Adriano Lanzi alla chitarra acustica amplificata e Federica Vecchio al violoncello. Come si può leggere dal loro sito hanno dato dei concerti, hanno avuto modo di approfondire la collaborazione e l’interazione fra gli strumenti. Gli strumenti sono tenuti nella loro dimensione acustica, c’è soltanto qualcosa di elettronico in alcuni brani, dei riverberi per dare più corpo alla musica. Alcuni brani sono delle composizioni, altri invece delle improvvisazioni estemporanee, l’ultimo brano in scaletta è Love in Outer Space di Sun Ra, eseguito restando fedeli al tema, un’esecuzione di un brano di uno dei protagonisti dell’avanguardia che diventa piuttosto accessibile al grosso pubblico. I due musicisti hanno già praticato altri tipi di musiche, lui fra l’altro anche del rock, lei con un quartetto d’archi. Trovano un’intesa comune, delle idee che si realizzano in studio da un momento all’altro. La musica è un dialogo in divenire, di note che scoprono di essere fatte l’una per l’altra e si incastrano perfettamente nello svolgimento dei brani, spesso tenuti di breve durata. A volte la musica sembra provenire dall’oriente, come su Il primissimo kiwi e quasi dà effetti psichedelici all’ascoltatore. The Return of the Transparent Giant Space Squid from the Sixth Dimension propone suoni più avanguardistici, qualche piccolo accenno di rock e momenti di suspance. Si ritorna ad atmosfer più consuete su Giochi ritmici contro i tipi da spiaggia e si ritorna su atmosfere ricche di mistero su The Fall of the House of Usher. I due trovano sempre qualcosa su cui esprimersi, tangenziali a quello che è l’uso consueto del loro strumento. Vittorio lo Conte http://www.musiczoom.it/?p=26719#.V_PdCOArLct
The two musicians are behind Mu Adriano Lanzi to amplified acoustic guitar and Federica Old cello. As you can see from their website they gave concerts, they have got to strengthen collaboration and interaction between instruments. The tools are kept in their acoustic dimension, there is just something electronic in some songs, the reverberations to give more body to the music. Some songs are the compositions, others extemporaneous improvisations, the last track in the lineup is Love in Outer Space Sun Ra, performed while remaining faithful to the theme, a performance of a piece by one of the avant-garde becomes pretty affordable to the general public. The two musicians have already practiced other types of music, he among other rock, she with a string quartet. They find a common understanding, the ideas that are realized in the study at any moment. Music is a dialogue in the making, notes that discover they have made for one another and fit perfectly in the performance of the songs, often kept short. Sometimes the music seems to come from the east, like on the very first kiwi and almost psychedelic effects gives the listener. The Return of the Space Transparent Giant Squid from the Sixth Dimension offers the most avant-garde sounds, some small hint of rock and moments of suspense. You return to more usual atmosfer of rhythmic games against types from the beach and return of rich atmosphere of mystery in The Fall of the House of Usher. The two always find something to express, tangential to what is the usual use of their instrument.
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