Blaise Siwula alto & tenor saxes, bass clarinet, clarinet. Giancarlo Mazzù guitar, drums. Luciano Troja piano. “d’istante3” is a creative music project bringing together the two Italian improvisers Giancarlo Mazzù and Luciano Troja, and the New York based saxophonist Blaise Siwula. Giancarlo and Luciano have worked together on the European jazz scene since 2002. Their music is mainly based on the search for new forms and expressions, related to tradition with a solid jazz background, mixed with folk music, classical forms and free improvisation. Blaise Siwula has established a prominent role in the NYC music scene since his arrival there in 1989 Collaboration between the three musicians began in 2009, with their first performance together in NYC at ABC No-Rio, where Siwula is the curator of C.O.M.A. Series. In 2011 “d’istante3” performed in several venues around NYC (Manhattan, Brooklyn, Harlem); in April that year, in the Wombat Studio in Brooklyn, the trio decided to record their special synergy in the spontaneous session presented on this, their first CD. Giancarlo Mazzu/Blaise Siwula/Luciano Troja (SLAM) by Ken Waxman After five years of intercontinental music making, Italian pianist Luciano Troja and guitarist/drummer Giancarlo Mazzù, plus New York multi-reedist Blaise Siwula, have finally recorded their co-operative trio. The wait was worth it. With interactive familiarity engendered by time, the three easily enmesh unique textures and timbres into a satisfying whole. Siwula is an improviser never inhibited by fashion or genre. That makes him a perfect foil for the other two, whose musical explorations flow equally from so-called classical music and folkloric suggestions as well as the liberation implicit in free music. As an added bonus, d’istantes3’s seven tracks are divided in such a way that two unique trios could be on hand. One, more jazz-oriented, usually features Siwula playing alto or tenor saxophone in a tart, impassioned manner while Mazzù demonstrates his talent as a time-keeping drummer with a fondness for shuffle beats. Here Troja’s command of blues progressions and other swing conventions is on display as well. With a style more akin to contemporary New music, the pianist helps define the second trio, alongside Mazzù’s harsh rasgueado and slurred fingering on the guitar plus Siwula’s extended techniques, usually expressed in the chalumeau register of the clarinet or bass clarinet. For instance, with Mazzù’s slaps and ruffs and Troja’s metronomic pulsing propelling the tune forward, “Istantes 2” finds Siwula’s saxophone lines evolving from hesitant flutters to multiphonic, circular smears. In contrast, “Istantes 1” could have been through-composed in early 20th century Vienna. As low-pitched clarinet puffs eventually sharpen, reed lines are accompanied by harp-like strums from the guitarist and busy piano patterns. Divisions aren’t hard and fast, however, since many tracks exhibit both recital- and dance-hall characteristics. “Istantes 2” for example, has a blues progression and drum rolls and shuffles suggesting ‘30s Swing while heavily vibrated bass clarinet slurs are strictly modern. By the final selection the three have managed to forge inimitable sequences, which can call on the characteristics of other musics while maintaining an interface strictly the band’s own. For more information, visit slamproductions.net. Siwula is at Spectrum Jan. 3rd and ABC No-Rio Jan. 20th. See Calendar. January 2013 | THE NEW YORK CITY JAZZ RECORD