This morning the name that caught my attention on the list of birthdays at All About Jazz was Paolo Fresu,a trumpet player. Paolo is in fact not only a trumpet and flugelhorn player, but he is also an arranger and composer. And an award-winning one at that!! Paolo was born in Berchidda, Sardina on February 10, 1961 and he his musical career has spanned the last 30 years in which he has performed on over 300 albums.many as a sideman and lots as a leader of his quintet.But wait there’s more…(if you call now – just joking) He is also according to Wikipedia:
professor and artistic director of internationally renowned jazz festivals such as Time in Jazz and Nuoro Jazz. He is involved in the production of numerous multimedia projects, cooperating with actors, dancers, painters, sculptors, and poets, as well as writing music for film, documentary, video, ballet, and theater pieces.
Yes, he does appear to be on of those people who do a lot of everything!! And he doesn’t seem to do it all from the same place but rather splits his time between Paris, Bologna and Sardinia.
With so many albums, I didn’t know where to start my explorations, so I started with his 2010 release Shades of Chet, of course the title led me to it, but Paolo’s trumpet kept me there. Then I figures maybe a tribute album is not where to start so I went back to the future and his 2011 release Alma, became this mornings soundtrack. The reason that I chose Alma was that album is a collaborative effort between Fresu and Omar Sosa and since I recently discovered Sosa’a music I thought this would be a great chance to hear both artists. It is a great album, very subdued I can see that it would be a great album to do writing at work or reading at night because the quiet restful music would probably hasten my descent into sleep!! But the musicianship of both artist make this a winner for me!! In his review of the album at All About Jazz Dan Bilawky writes that because both men are so prolific that….
….it’s fairly likely that both men have moved on to points unknown by now, with Alma they have created a work of art of full of life, love and soul. This is music worth savoring. Full Review
Links
Website: http://www.paolofresu.it
Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/paolofresuofficial
AllMusic:http://www.allmusic.com/artist/paolo-fresu-mn0000744428/biography
Wikipedia:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paolo_Fresu
All About Jazz: Alma
So let’s after wishing Paolo a Happy 53rd Birthday go “into the night” listening to Omar and Paolo Live @ Blue Note Milano 08-03-2012….
