SLAMCD571 Sebastiano Dessanay – Duets of a Fool

Eleven duets swinging between improvisation and composition. Double bassist Sebastiano Dessanay has collected together musical dialogues with important artists he came across with during his artistic career, including Paul Dunmall, Mark Sanders, Rachel Cohen, Melinda Maxwell and Jack McNeill.

Recurring phrases, circular elements and great musicality permeate this album: “The duets are intentionally short”, says the Sardinian Birmingham-based double bassist, “Although completely improvised, they tend to a form and to the recall of musical elements typical of written music”.

All the ten artists that converse with him, one for each track, have been part of his artistic career. A conversation within himself is added: the two fools of the opening track are just two self-deprecating facets of the bassist, as in a monologue at the mirror. The artists featured in the album range from new generation talents such as the Italian trumpeter Fulvio Sigurtà to established names of the British free jazz scene such as Paul Dunmall and Mark Sanders.

There are several artists from Sardinia, where Dessanay started as a bass player: pianist Sebastiano Meloni, who uses improvisation as his main artistic device, classical-contemporary guitar player Francesco Morittu and jazz pianist Augusto Pirodda, who recorded with Paul Motian and Gary Peacock.

And the UK-based artists that have collaborated with Dessanay in the past few years: Scottish sax player Rachael Cohen, London Sinfonietta oboist Melinda Maxwell and clarinetist and songwriter Jack McNeill.

Sebastiano Dessanay: double bass
Paul Dunmall: tenor saxophone (track 2)
Sebastiano Meloni: piano (track 3)
Rachael Cohen: alto saxophone (track 4)
Francesco Morittu: guitar (track 5)
Howard Skempton: voice (track 6)
Augusto Pirodda: piano (track 7)
Melinda Maxwell: oboe (track 8)
Mark Sanders: drums (track 9)
Jack McNeill: clarinet (track 10)
Fulvio Sigurtà: trumpet (track 11)

“The eleven pieces are all under four minutes long, two of them under two minutes. All are entirely improvised, though leaning towards a formula which reflects some of the fundamentals characteristic of written composition. The music on this album is a delight. There is an historical thread of recollection and investigation, research and rejoicing, and a dialogue which recognises that all is not yet revealed; the new is still to be learnt and revealed.” – Ken Cheetham, Jazz Views

Sound Engineers and Assistants: Sebastiano Dessanay, Matthew O’Malley, Emma Chilton
Editing: Ben Weatherill
Mixing and Mastering: Marti Jane Robertson

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