SLAMCD577 MU – Of Strings and Bridges

The duo MU – guitarist Adriano Lanzi and cellist Federica Vecchio – was 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 has performed with Musicomici trio, the post rock band ET//AL and the Sharareh String Quartet.

Adriano Lanzi: amplified acoustic guitar, effects
Federica Vecchio: cello

“As you listen to tunes like Primoamor, you’ll find yourself totally engaged with their high-energy, and “jazz story” building abilities…suspense builds throughout the piece. If you like your listening more laid-back, you’ll especially enjoy the great bass intro/lead throughout Marisa…be sure you do this with headphones on, at least for the first listen, so you can absorb every little “shade” of jazz they paint in.” – Rotcod Zzaj, Improvijazzation

“Ballabene plays some lovely things with the bow and is apparently responsible for some sound treatments and (possibly) pre-recorded elements. Bindelli keeps the music in motion, evoking footsteps, dance, train-track repetition, under currents of ennui or fear, It’s really effective and a further illustration of the confident way Italian musicians are setting aside (except on the raunchy Influenza A) exclusively American models in pursuit of a new synthesis of European sound-cultures. I loved it for its unpretentious subtlety and sense of life.” – Brian Morton, Jazz Journal

“Ferri’s strong and masculine on his alto, almost giving hints of Gato Barbieri on tenor during pieces like the cataclysmic “Luci Rosse” and the tango of sorts called “Amalasunta.” There’s a nice bop line with ride cymbal as Ferri cries out on “El Cicco” and he broods with a bel canto during “L’innominato.” Interplay with drums ranges from the rumbling “Influenza A” to the white knuckler “L’agente Segreto” while the rhythm percolates on “Todo Modo.” Fervent!” – George W. Harris, Jazz Weekly

Recorded, mixed and mastered in Studio Kiwi, Rome, spring 2015 to spring 2016, by Adriano Lanzi

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