SLAMCD546 Erika Dagnino Quartet – Signs

A live recording of poetry and music by writer and poet Erika Dagnino and her quartet, featuring Ras Moshe on flute and saxophones and Ken Filiano on double bass.

Erika Dagnino has contributed to literary and music magazines such as First Literary Review-East, Levure Littéraire and Quaderni d’Altri Tempi. Her musical collaborations include the CD liner notes for Anthony Braxton‘s Italian Quartet, and work with Italian avant-garde violinist Stefano Pastor, English saxophonist George Haslam and American pianist and composer Chris Brown.

Erika Dagnino: poetry, voice
Ras Moshe: flute, soprano and tenor saxophone
Ken Filiano: double bass, effects
John Pietaro: vibraphone, glockenspiel, snare drum, tom-tom, various bells, suspended cymbals, triangle, wind chimes, shaker

“Signs is a collection of well-crafted poems set to music that has plenty of room for improvisation…The music runs the gamut from sassy to serious and the instrumentalists’ accompaniment ranges from the thunderous to hymn-like. Filiano’s technical strength really shines through on “Quinta Improvvisazione” The listener will get a larger benefit from Dagnino’s poems by reading them in the liner notes as well as hearing them on the recording. It is easy to be swept into the emotionally charged reading of the poems and forget about the care she took in writing the meaningful text.” – Dustin Mallory, Cadence Magazine

“Both words and music are free-flowing, yet grave and the balance between the voice-sound and use of instruments is inspired and sublime. Erika Dagnino uses her words and voice as elegant tools with which to interrelate with the musicians as an equal player in the quartet. The album is beautifully recorded and all participants deliver a commanding and haunted performance, an exceptionally gratifying experience…I have heard nothing so good, so exciting, since Meredith Monk in the 70s and 80s.” – Ken Cheetham, Jazz Views

“More often than not Dagnino seems to declaim or intone her Italian/English poetry in this no-holds barred set, but this has the effect of setting up an extraordinary tension between her and the trio of instrumentalists as they weave around her, as per Prima Improvvisazione; not for these guys the mannered tendencies of the jazz/poetry deal, as is proven on the opening Preludio where Moshe shows what an original tenor player he is, John Pietaro moves well beyond Bobby Hutcherson in his work and bassist Ken Filiano completes a trio which deserves a CD of its own.” – Nick Jones, Jazz Journal

“As you listen to “Prima Improvvisazione”, you’ll be as amazed as I was…this is the music dreams are made of, and this one will have you dreaming over & over again – the players are truly together on this one! It was the bass/bell/reed combo on “Intermezzo” that made it my favourite of the eight offered up.” – Rotcod Zzaj, Improvijazzation Nation

“The setting of fiery free jazz fits the uncompromising temper of Dagnino’s poetry and her bilingual delivery of lines, first in Italian, than reprised in English. As if only the intense and rough emotional turmoil of free jazz discourse and the musical flexibility of seasoned improvisers can envelope Dagnino’s unsettling tales of fever, wounds and dry solitude…Dagnino poetry and music demand careful listening before the multifaceted images and sounds are grasped. Still this is a highly rewarding experience.” – Eyal Hareuveni, All About Jazz

“It is rare for a poet to recite in two different languages within the same setting but it works well here…The blend of tenor sax or flute, plucked or bowed bass and vibes or small percussion is consistently inspired and never overdone. The balance between the spoken word sections and instrumental passages is superbly balanced giving us a chance to consider the words more thoughtfully.” – Bruce Lee Gallanter, Downtown Music Gallery

Recorded by Natalie Scarborough at 17th Frost Theatre of the Arts, Brooklyn, New York, November 19th 2012
Editing, mixing and mastering by Stefano Pastor
Produced by Erika Dagnino and George Haslam

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