JOHANN FRIEDRICH FASCH : Overtures And Concerto In D · Sonatas For Oboes And Bassoon (2013) 2CD | Two Version | FLAC (image+.tracks+.cue), lossless

Fame is a strange thing. Although Johann Friedrich Fasch was highly esteemed by his contemporaries and the generations of musicians who followed him, in the concert repertoire of today he is grouped together with many minor masters who wrote a lot of works that sadly communicate very little. Yet music scholar Johann Adolf Scheibe put Fasch into the same class as Telemann, and J.S. Bach possessed copies of several of the composer’s works. This release therefore aims to expose the genius of Fasch, and in doing so to help restore appreciation for what has become a largely forgotten corpus of deftly written, utterly absorbing music.

Fasch made his name largely through his overtures, works which in the 17th and 18th centuries referred to a series of dance movements prefaced by an extensive introduction of pompous gravity. Two are explored in this release – the Overture in D minor and the Overture in B flat ‘a due cori’, arranged by M. Fechner and E. Steinsdorff respectively – and they are followed by a selection of Fasch’s sonatas for two oboes and bassoon, with and without basso continuo, works whose details (such as free, fantasy-like episodes to be played at a slow pace) reveal a rich field for experimentation. A Concerto in D and a Sonata for 2 oboes and 2 bassoons also feature, and overall one is struck by this composer’s highly personal style of chamber music – a stark contrast to the ingratiating melodies and harmonic suavity of his large-scale instrumental pieces.

Recorded during 1986–87, the overtures and Concerto in D are played by esteemed ensemble Virtuosi Saxoniae (all members of the Staatskapelle Dresden) under the directorship of renowned trumpeter Ludwig Güttler. The sonatas complete the all-German line-up of musicians; renowned oboists Burkhard Glaetzner and Ingo Goritzki feature among others.

Other information:
- Recorded: 1986–1987, Lukaskirche, Dresden; 1987, Studio, Paul-Gerhardt-Kirche, Leipzig.
- A tribute to a neglected German Baroque master, who was highly esteemed by J.S. Bach, and whose output was found equal in quality to that of Telemann according to the scholar Johann Scheibe.
- This set features large scale orchestral overtures, in the grand style of Handel’s Water Music and Bach’s Orchestral Suites. The oboe sonatas, written for 2 oboes and a rich continuo, show a highly original composer who gives his fantasy and imagination free reign.
- Superb performances by the Early Music group Virtuosi Saxoniae conducted by Ludwig Güttler (Preis der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik) and oboists Burkhardt Glaetzner and Ingo Goritzki, seconded by the expert continuo of Christine Schornsheim and Siegfried Pank.
- Excellent liner notes written by experts in this field. brilliant
JOHANN FRIEDRICH FASCH (1688-1758)
Tracklist :
Credits :
Bassoon – Günter Klier (tracks: 1-10 to 1-16), Hans-Peter Steger (tracks: 1-10 to 1-16), Hans-Peter Steger (tracks: 1-7 to 1-9), Lutz Klepel (tracks: 2-18 to 2-21), Thomas Reinhardt (tracks: 2-18 to 2-21)
Cello – Joachim Bischof (tracks: 1-10 to 1-16)
Directed By – Ludwig Güttler
Double Bass – Werner Zeibig (tracks: 1-10 to 1-16)
Ensemble – Virtuosi Saxoniae
Harpsichord – Christina Haupt (tracks: 1-10 to 1-16), Christine Schornsheim (tracks: 2-22 to 2-25), Friedrich Kircheis (tracks: 1-10 to 1-16)
Hunting Horn – Kurt Sandau (tracks: 1-7 to 1-9), Ludwig Güttler (tracks: 1-7 to 1-9)
Oboe – Andreas Lorenz (tracks: 1-7 to 1-9), Burkhard Glaetzner (tracks: 2-14 to 2-21), Ingo Goritzki (tracks: 2-14 to 2-21), Wolfgang Klier (tracks: 1-7 to 1-9)
Viola da Gamba – Siegfried Pank (tracks: 2-22 to 2-25)
Violone – Achim Beyer (tracks: 2-22 to 2-25) 

DR. JOHN BULL : Complete Works for Keyboard, Volume 1 (Peter Watchorn · Mahan Esfahani) (2009) 2CD | Two Version | FLAC (image+.tracks+.cue), lossless

The portrait of John Bull on the cover of this two-CD U.S. release gives an idea for the uninitiated of what to expect from the composer's music: it's intense, single-minded, and even a bit demonic (although the hourglass topped with a skull with a bone in its mouth is apparently an alchemical symbol). Bull was, in the words of an unidentified writer quoted by harpsichordist Mahan Esfahani, "the Liszt of the virginals." The most immediately apparent feature of his music is extreme virtuosity, on display especially in the mind-boggling set of variations entitled Walsingham (CD 1, track 8) and in the galliards of the pavan-galliard pairs. But the opposite pole in Bull's style exerts just as strong a pull: he is fascinated by strict polyphony by what would be called harmonic progressions, and by the close study of the implications contained within small musical units. As spectacular in their way as the keyboard fireworks are, the three separate settings of a tune called Why Ask You? on CD 2 are marvelous explorations of compressed musical gestures. Although the chromatic element in his music is only moderate (it is most thoroughly deployed in a sad pavan-galliard pair memorializing Elizabeth I), you might think of Bull as an English counterpart in extremity to Italy's Carlo Gesualdo. Indeed, his life is nearly as colorful as Gesualdo's was; among other episodes, he was forced to flee England for the Netherlands after charges later summarized this way: "The man hath more music than honesty and is as famous for marring of virginity as he is for fingering organs and virginals." Bull, for his part, maintained plausibly that the charges were trumped up, with the real motivation being to harass him for his Catholic faith. Annotator and harpsichordist Peter Watchorn provides detailed accounts of Bull's life, including an investigation of the elusive Walsingham, and also discusses the three Dutch-style harpsichords used on the album in detail. The pair of harpsichordists named on the cover do not perform together; instead, Esfahani is Watchorn's student, invited to participate in the project. It would take an immersed specialist to tell them apart and perhaps specialists are the intended audience for this first installment in an eventual complete recorded edition of Bull's keyboard music. An hour and a half of Bull may be a lot for general listeners, but even many of them will find fascinating items here. James Manheim
Dr. JOHN BULL (1562-1628)
Tracklist :
Credits :
Harpsichord – Mahan Esfahani, Peter Watchorn
Notas.
Recorded at St. Mary of the Hills Church, Milton, MA USA, July 2007
Tuning: 1/4 Comma Meantone: Peter Watchorn
Instruments: Zuckermann Harpsichords International (2007) after Hans Moermans II; 1642 Hubbard & Broekman (1990) after Andreas Ruckers, 1646; Hubbard & Watchorn (1990) after Hans Moermans I, 1584
Cover Illustration: John Bull, (1589, oil on panel) by English School (16th century), ©Faculty of Music Collection, Oxford University, The Bridgeman Art Library

VINCENT LÜBECK— Complete Organ Works (Friedhelm Flamme) (2006) Serie Organ Works of the North German Baroque – Vol. 2 | Two Version | FLAC (image+.tracks+.cue), lossless

VINCENT LÜBECK (1654-1740)
1.    Praeludium C-dur    5:46
2.    Präludium G-moll    9:15
3.    Praeambulum F-dur    2:59
4.    Lobt Gott Ihr Christen    1:32
5.    Praeambulum E-dur    6:40
6.    Praeludium D-moll    8:15
7.    Nun Lasst Uns Gott    5:35
8.    Praeambulum C-moll    5:00
9.    Präludium G-dur    5:39
10.    Ich Ruf Zu Dir    13:19
11.    In Dulci Jubilo    2:58
Credits :
Organ [Christoph-Treutmann-Organ] – Friedhelm Flamme

VINCENT LÜBECK — Complete Harpsichord and Organ Music (Manuel Tomadin) (1993) 2CD | Two Version | FLAC (image+.tracks+.cue), lossless

Unfortunately, until recently, the music of Vincent Lübeck (c.September 1654–9 February 1740) was simply regarded as northern German music from the 17th century in the pre-Bach era. This recording is the first edition to include all existing organ and harpsichord compositions by Lübeck as well as a series of previously unknown manuscript pieces.

Despite Lübeck’s fame during his long lifetime, few of his organ works are well known, yet his pieces for organ are the most important in his oeuvre. Influenced by Buxtehude and Reincken, Lübeck composed works that were both technically and artistically elaborate with frequent two-pedal virtuosic passages, five voices and other compositional elements rarely used by most of his contemporaries. Lübeck’s Clavier Uebung, written in 1728, consists of a single suite for harpsichord, with the traditional dances (Allemande, Courante, Sarabande and Gigue) preceded by a prelude and fugue and followed by a chaconne.

The S.M.G. manuscript from 1691 includes 45 short pieces for keyboard, many anonymous although five are attributed to Lübeck’s father, and it also contains the only known compositions by Lübeck’s son. These pedagogical pieces work well on a small historic harpsichord or clavichord, or on a small or regal stop organ. In fact, the dynamic markings in certain pieces indicate clavichord, considered to be the preferred instrument on which to learn keyboard technique. Their charm and melodic inventiveness make them a joy to play.

Vincent Lübeck lived from 1654 till 1740. He is one of the most important composers of the North-German Organ School, the organist of the Nikolai Church in Hamburg, one of the most important churches, housing an impressive Arp Schnitger organ.
This set contains Lübeck’s complete works for harpsichord and organ. The pieces for organ are the most important of his works. Influenced by Dieterich Buxtehude and Johann Adam Reincken, Lübeck composed works that were both technically and artistically elaborate with frequent two-pedal virtuosic passages, five voices and other compositional elements rarely used by most of his contemporaries. This is particularly the case in his polyphonic writing, in the fugue passages and in the double fugues which demands a high level of virtuosity of the organist.
Manuel Tomadin, one of Italy’s foremost organists, plays the magnificent Van Hagerbeer Schnitger organ of the Grote Kerk of Alkmaar, one of the most famous instruments in the world.
The booklet contains excellent liner notes written by the artist, as well as the specifications of the instruments.

Organ performances recorded on the Van Hagerbeer/Schnitger organ (1646/1725) at Grote Sint-Laurenskerk, Alkmaar, The Netherlands in September 2017, and a positiv organ by Francesco Zanin (2012) at Silvelle di Trebaseleghe, Padua, Italy in November 2017.
Harpsichord performances recorded on an instrument by William Horn (after Michael Mietke, Berlin, 1700) at Silvelle di Trebaseleghe, Padua, Italy in November 2017. Contains liner notes, a biography of the artist, photographs of the instruments and specifications of the organs and harpsichord.
Details of the organ registrations used for each track are available at www.brilliantclassics.com. 
VINCENT LÜBECK (1654-1740)
Tracklist :
Harpsichord, Organ – Manuel Tomadin

VINCENT LÜBECK— L'Œuvre D'Orgue (Michel Chapuis) (1993) Two Version | APE (image+.tracks+.cue), lossless

VINCENT LÜBECK (1654-1740)
1.    Prélude & Fugue IV En Sol Mineur    8:10
2.    Prélude & Fugue V En Ut Mineur    4:00
3.    Prélude & Fugue II En Mi Majeur    5:31
4.    Prélude & Fugue VI En Ut Majeur    4:57
5.    Prélude & Fugue III En Fa Majeur    2:51
6.    Ich Ruf Zu Dir Herr Jesu Christ    12:52
7.    Prélude & Fugue I En Ré Mineur    6:52
Credits :
Instrument Builder – Johann Hinrich Klapmeyer
Organ – Michel Chapuis
Notas.
Recorded in August 1969
Klapmeyer Organ of St. Nicolai Church, Altenbruch, Lower Saxony.

VINCENT LÜBECK— Sämtliche Werke für Orgel und Cembalo (Martin Böcker) (1997) 2CD | Two Version | FLAC (image+.tracks+.cue), lossless

VINCENT LÜBECK (1654-1740)
1-8.    Huß/Schnitger-Orgel In Ss.Cosmae Et Damiani/Stade
2.1.    Clavierübung, Hamburg 1728 / Für Cembalo
2.5.    (Suite In G-Moll)
2-6.    Zugabe Von Dem Gesang "Lobt Gott Ihr Christen Allzugleich" In Einer Chaconne
7-9.    Bielfeldt-Orgel In St.Wilhadi/Stade
Credits :
Harpsichord – Martin Böcker (tracks: 2-1 to 2-6)
Organ [Bielfeldt-Orgel] – Martin Böcker (tracks: 2-7 to 2-9)
Organ [Huß/Schnitger-Orgel] – Martin Böcker (tracks: 1-1 to 1-8)

NIKOLAI KAPUSTIN : 24 Preludes (Nikolai Kapustin) (2004) FLAC (tracks), lossless

NIKOLAI KAPUSTIN (1937-2020)
1-24. Preludes Op.53 No.1 to 24
25.    Sunrise Op.26    3:12
26.   Toccatina Op.36    2:59
27.   Meditation    5:20
28.   Sound Of Big Band Op.46    4:11
29.   Moving Force Op.45    1:37
Piano – Nikolai Kapustin

ALLAN HOLDSWORTH — Hard Hat Area (1994) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Allan Holdsworth is arguably one of the most important post-Hendrix electric guitarists to grace either the fusion or rock scenes, while Hard Hat Area, signifies one of the artist's better solo excursions. With this 1994 effort, the guitarist receives excellent support from Icelandic electric bass phenom Skuli Sverrissson, whereas keyboardist Steve Hunt renders melodically tinged synth lines and ethereal backwashes throughout. Essentially, the group produces a series of climactic overtures, accelerated by a distinct sense of uninhibited force. On pieces such as "Ruhkukah" and "Low Levels, High Stakes," the musicians surge forward with a deterministic flair via a few tricky time signatures and lyrically charged themes atop Holdsworth's climactically driven solos. Consequently, the group conveys an underlying sense of tension and release, as Holdsworth's scathing legato-based lines might spur notions of a hawk zooming in on its prey. Thus, a must-have for the ardent Holdsworth aficionado. Glenn Astarita  
Tracklist :
1.    Prelude 1:35
Guitar – Allan Holdsworth
Keyboards – Steve Hunt
Written-By – A. Holdsworth, S. Hunt
2.    Ruhkukah 5:34
Soloist [Solos Guitar] – Allan Holdsworth
Soloist [Solos Keyboards] – Steve Hunt
Written-By – A. Holdsworth
3.    Low Levels, High Stakes 9:05
Soloist [Solos Bass] – Skúli Sverrisson
Soloist [Solos Guitar] – Allan Holdsworth
Soloist [Solos Piano] – Steve Hunt
Written-By – A. Holdsworth
4.    Hard Hat Area 6:06
Bass – Skúli Sverrisson
Guitar, SynthAxe – Allan Holdsworth
Written-By – A. Holdsworth
5.    Tullio 6:06
Soloist [Solos Guitar] – Allan Holdsworth
Soloist [Solos Keyboards] – Steve Hunt
Written-By – A. Holdsworth
6.    House Of Mirrors 7:47
Soloist [Solos Guitar] – Allan Holdsworth
Soloist [Solos Keyboards] – Steve Hunt
Written-By – A. Holdsworth
7.    Postlude 5:29
Keyboards [Chords] – Steve Hunt
Soloist [Solos Bass] – Skúli Sverrisson
Soloist [Solos Keyboards] – Steve Hunt
Soloist [Solos SynthAxe] – Allan Holdsworth
SynthAxe [Melody] – Allan Holdsworth
Written-By – A. Holdsworth, G. Husband, S. Sverrisson, S. Hunt 

AVISHAI COHEN — After the Big Rain (2007) FLAC (tracks), lossless

Avishai Cohen's After the Big Rain is an ambitious, earthy and endlessly surprising work that finds the trumpeter/composer melding post-bop, avant-garde jazz, African folk music and electric soundscapes. Having been a force on the downtown NYC jazz scene since the '90s, Cohen has made a name for himself as an adventurous, forward-thinking musician performing in various ensembles that mixed everything from klezmer and free jazz to swinging hard bop and post-rock. Here, Cohen takes his world music inclinations one step further partnering with West African vocalist/guitarist Lionel Loueke on a series of loosely connected pieces that strongly feature Loueke's moody singing and percussive guitar. Interestingly, the album often sounds more like African folk music than jazz with Loueke setting a song up and then Cohen with his muted/electronically enhanced trumpet and keyboardist Jason Lindner's wave-like Fender Rhoades joining in organically after a few bars. Cohen himself is a fire brand of an improviser who evinces both a Miles Davis-like sense of harmonic color and a knack for muscular, knotty Woody Shaw-inspired improvisational lines. Here, he mixes both styles liberally, often bumping against Yosvany Terry's rhythmic "jack-in-the-box" sounding chereke playing. In many ways, After the Big Rain harkens back to trumpeter Don Cherry's stellar 1975 jazz/world fusion album Brown Rice and in a similar sense is a moving and enveloping early masterwork. Matt Collar
Tracklist :
1.    After The Big Rain    6:13
 Avishai Cohen 
2.    Parto Forte    11:45
 Avishai Cohen 
3.    Gbede Temin    4:36
 Lionel Loueke 
4.    Meditation On Two Chords    8:14
 Jason Lindner 
5.    Afterthoughts (Mozartine)    7:17
 Avishai Cohen 
6.    Miryama    3:44
 Avishai Cohen / Lionel Loueke 
7.     African Daisy (La Suite African)    11:02
 Avishai Cohen 
8.    After The Big Rain - Epilogue    5:59
 Avishai Cohen 
Credits :
Acoustic Bass – Omer Avital
Drums, Percussion – Daniel Freedman
Guitar, Vocals – Lionel Loueke
Keyboards, Electric Piano [Fender Rhodes] – Jason Lindner
Lyrics By – Lionel Loueke (tracks: 6)
Lyrics By [Translated To Fon by] – Lionel Loueke (tracks: 8)
Producer, Trumpet, Effects, Arranged By, Composed By, Lyrics By – Avishai Cohen
Shaker [Chekere] – Yosvany Terry (tracks: 1, 2, 7, 8)

STEFANO BATTAGLIA — Things Ain't What They Used To Be (1987-2016) RM | FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Tracklist :
1.    All In Love Is Fair  9:21
Written-By – Stevie Wonder
2.    Our Love Is Here To Stay  6:01
Written-By – George Gershwin - Ira Gershwin
3.    When I Fall In Love  7:40
Written-By – Edward Heyman, Victor Young
4.    I've Grown Accustomed To Your Face  6:00
Written-By – Alan Jay Lerner - Frederick Loewe
5.    Moon River  8:55
Written-By – Henry Mancini
6.    Things Ain't What They Used To Be  6:57
Written-By – Mercer Ellington, Ted Persons
Credits :
Bass – Piero Leveratto
Drums – Gianni Cazzola
Piano – Stefano Battaglia

STEFANO BATTAGLIA — Auryn (1989) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Pianist Stefano Battaglia is one of the most prolific musicians in Italy. He has played on dozens of dates either in the classical or jazz field, but nowhere does one get a true sense of his contribution as on his solo recordings in the jazz idiom. Here, like his influences Paul Bley, Keith Jarrett, and Bill Evans before him, Battaglia focuses intently on the spaces between melody and harmony, and how mode and interval influence them both in composition. Also, unlike his predecessors who seem to have come by their voices naturally, Battaglia is forever honing that sound that he has come to believe is singular to him. This date with longtime collaborator bassist Paolino Dalla Porta and drummer Manhu Roche is one of trio exploration into the realms of subtle, though precise, melodic invention, and how it turns the modal nature of jazz into something more open, more elongated, and even free, because its concerns are with nuance rather than with the norms of composition. On the title track, a shimmering eighth note melody emerges from the ether and is transformed into an elegant, almost classically integrated, theme that is pushed to its limit by the rhythm section. On "The Real Meaning of the Blues," Battaglia's arpeggio study is intervallically challenged by Dalla Porta's own pizzicato machinations that serve to unify to very separate ideas. Also, on "Toy Roads," Cuban jazz figures are undercut with late bop chromatics in a whirlwind of syncopated rhythm and angular scalar studies without ever sacrificing the melody. This is one of Battaglia's earlier recordings, but it is also one of his very finest. 
-> This comment is posted on Allmusic by Thom Jurek, follower of our blog 'O Púbis da Rosa' <-
Tracklist :
1.    Auryn    6:00
2.    Toy Roads    8:45
3.    Emilie Marie    7:37
4.    The Real Meaning (Of The Blues)    7:12
5.    Some Little Notes For You    5:32
6.    Gleam    8:39
Credits :
Bass – Paolino Dalla Porta
Piano, Composed, Arranged By – Stefano Battaglia
Drums – Manhu Roche

STEFANO BATTAGLIA TRIO — The Book Of Jazz Volume One (2000) Symphonia Odyssey Series | FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

This Book of Jazz opens with Egberto Gismonti's Café, a piece recorded by the great pianist-guitarist in 1977 (it's on G C Meio Dia, an album released by the Brazilian with stellar support from Jan Garbarek, Ralph Towner, Collin Walcott, and Nana Vasconcelos). This choice immediately makes things clear: don't expect a dusty and conventional anthology of sacred classics. But we wouldn't have expected anything like this anyway, from Stefano Battaglia (piano), Paolino Dalla Porta (double bass), and Fabrizio Sferra (drums), three of the most intelligent and open-minded musicians on the contemporary music scene. Indeed, while they stray less far into the repertoire, the band still makes "unconventional" choices, placing, for example, Shorter's "Nefertiti" between Monk's "Ask Me Now" and Ornette's "Congeniality," not to mention the inclusion of pieces by Charlie Haden and Steve Swallow, top-notch musicians, but certainly not as frequently compared to Duke Ellington, Eric Dolphy, and Horace Silver as they are here. The trio moves with an austere and elegant manner, counting on superior interplay, and churns out over 76 minutes of intense music. We look forward to the next volumes. suono.it
Tracklist :
1.    Café  8:10
Composed By – Egberto Gismonti
2.    Ask Me Now  9:18
Composed By – Thelonious Monk
3.    Nefertitti  8:28
Composed By – Wayne Shorter
4.    Congeniality
Composed By – Ornette Coleman
5.    The Golden Number  8:40
Composed By – Charlie Haden
6.    Prelude To A Kiss  10:12
Composed By – Duke Ellington
7.    Something Sweet, Something Tender
Composed By – Eric Dolphy
8.    Wrong Together  7:05
Composed By – Steve Swallow
9.    Peace  10:48
Composed By – Horace Silver
Credits :
Bass – Paolino Dalla Porta
Drums – Fabrizio Sferra
Piano – Stefano Battaglia 

STEFANO BATTAGLIA — Il Cerchio Interno (1999) Symphonia Odyssey Series | FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Tracklist :
1.    Il Cerchio Interno    6:50
2.    Danza Settima    4:21
3.    Lacrima    7:23
4.    Maggio    4:54
5.    Lapsit Exillis    7:02
6.    Prima Luce    6:10
7.    Requiem Et Danse Pour Nusrat Fateh Ali Kahn    10:44
8.    Novecentonovantanove    4:56
9.    Musica Dell'Abside    3:44
Credits :
Piano, Composed By – Stefano Battaglia

MIRCO MARIOTTINI · STEFANO BATTAGLIA — Music for Clarinets and Piano (2019) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Tracklist :
1.    Improvisation I    3:36
dedicated to Hildegard of Bingen
2.    Improvisation II    3:13
dedicated to Jimmy Giuffre
3.    Improvisation III    4:19
dedicated to Paul Bley
4.    Improvisation IV    6:34
dedicated to Igor Stravinsky
5.    Improvisation V    3:04
dedicated to Charles Aznavour
6.    Improvisation VI    3:17
dedicated to Bruno Maderna
7.    Improvisation VII    5:39
dedicated to Valentin Silvestrov
8.    Improvisation VIII    6:01
dedicated to Krzysztof Komeda
9.    Improvisation IX    4:25
dedicated to Camarón de la Isla
10.    Improvisation X    2:16
dedicated to Sainkho Namtchylak
11.    Improvisation XI    2:53
dedicated to Elliot Carter
12.    Improvisation XII    3:11
dedicated to Rosa Balistreri
Credits :
Clarinet, Bass Clarinet – Mirco Mariottini
All Compositions By – Mirco Mariottini, Stefano Battaglia
Piano – Stefano Battaglia 

STEFANO BATTAGLIA · MICHELE RABBIA — Stravagario (2002) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Tracklist :
1.    Millenaria    4:13
2.     Fluxus  7:13
Theremin – Michele Rabbia
3.    Quem Te Alumia Me Da' Luz    5:30
4.    Body Music    4:25
5.    Elogio Dell'Assenza    2:25
6.    Altalena    8:22
7.    Invocazione    3:10
8.    Cantus Firmus    2:59
9.    Oltre Frontiera    3:15
10.    Passaggi Improvvisi, Improvvisi Paesaggi    3:05
11.    Giada E Alabastro    1:42
12.    Baco Da Seta    4:23
13.    La Boîte De Jeux  1:24
Toy Piano, Performer [Woods] – Stefano Battaglia
14.    Vano Preambolo    2:20
15.    Exilio    3:43
16.    Di Un'Ombra    4:46
17.    Afghana    4:23
18.    Madre Delle Stelle    2:38
Credits :
Percussion – Michele Rabbia
Piano – Stefano Battaglia

STEFANO BATTAGLIA — Sulphur (1995) FLAC (tracks), lossless

This is Italian free jazz from a two-thirds Italian trio. While pianist Stefano Battaglia and bassist Paolino Dalla Porta may not be well known to many outside of the hardcore improv audience, drummer Tony Oxley better well be. His presence on the disc suggests one thing: that his collaborators are more than capable. The ten pieces here, as engaged with free improv as they are, are compositions nonetheless authored by various members of the group. The engagement between Oxley and Dalla Porta is nearly telepathic. Given Oxley's extremely busy style, it's no wonder that Dalla Porta chooses to play from the hip, offering short staccato bursts to highlight Oxley's high-hat runs, and longer, deeper octave tones to his snare and tom-tom flurries, and bowed ostinatos when bass drum and ride cymbal are employed exclusively. Above all this rides Battaglia's skittering skeins of tonal clusters and outrageously lengthy single note runs. The basis for this piano/bass/drum trio's communication seems to lie in the roots of augmented minor pitches introduced by Battaglia in each of the works found here, no matter the author's signature. Does it swing? Nope. This is internal music that explores the interior working of the trio as it tries to examine its own harmonic identity between individuals. It's head music to be sure, but ominous, fascinating stuff nonetheless. The brilliant sonorities with which Battaglia and Dalla Porta express themselves individually and in counterpoint to one another are worth the price of admission alone. But then, so is Oxley's mysterious, ever-moving drumming. 
-> This comment is posted on Allmusic by Thom Jurek, follower of our blog 'O Púbis da Rosa' <-
Tracklist :
1.    Stanza #1  4:46
Composed By – T. Oxley
2.    Lifebeat  7:16
Composed By – S. Battaglia
3.    Mercurial  6:21
Composed By – S. Battaglia
4.    Stanza #2  5:06
Composed By – T. Oxley
5.    Science Of The Heart  6:01
Composed By – S. Battaglia
6.    Game #1  7:10
Composed By – P. Dalla Porta
7.    Picasso  3:07
Composed By – P. Dalla Porta
8.    Duchamp
Composed By – P. Dalla Porta
9.    Klee  3:54
Composed By – P. Dalla Porta
10.    Game #6  3:37 
Composed By – P. Dalla Porta
Credits :
Acoustic Bass – Paolino Dalla Porta
Drums – Tony Oxley
Piano – Stefano Battaglia 

STEFANO BATTAGLIA — Racolto (2006) 2CD | Two Version | APE + FLAC (image+.tracks+.cue), lossless

Milanese pianist and composer Stefano Battaglia has walked on both sides of the classical and jazz street with ease and comfort. Whether performing Bill Evans or Pierre Boulez, he plays with integrity and authority. The double-disc Raccolto is his ECM debut, and he performs in two different settings to illustrate his tremendous gifts as both an improviser and a composer. His romantic leanings and sometimes pointillistic playing reveal his influences, from Evans to Paul Bley to Keith Jarrett. He carries his mentors with ease inside his gig bag. Disc one showcases Battaglia in a jazz trio setting with bassist Giovanni Maier and percussionist Michele Rabbia (who plays on both discs). Here, lush lyricism folds into free improvisation as the dreamy movement between the opening title cut gives way to the long, abstract "Triangolazioni." And though the latter track is completely outside, it has no edges, no burrs, no dissonances that are not enveloped inside the whole. Likewise, the skeletal space of "Triosonic" provides breathing room in contrast to the dense, more fluid post-bop improvisation in "All Is Language," where Battaglia dazzles with his multivalent ostinati. The second disc in this collection features Rabbia and Battaglia with violinist Dominique Pifarély, a member of Louis Sclavis' group. These 12 tunes are full of bracing improvisations and textural tension. The edgy "Porquoi?" and the hissing string introduction to "Il Circo Ungherese" are enough to send most jazz fans screaming for the hills. Those new music fans who haven't heard Pifarély or Battaglia before will be delighted at their structured approach to the outside. There is no self-indulgence here, only disciplined listening and authoritative execution. These 12 pieces are without reservation explorations into unknown sounds and combinations of sounds. The two discs together are all but irresistible to fans of the new European music. 
-> This comment is posted on Allmusic by Thom Jurek, follower of our blog 'O Púbis da Rosa' <-
Tracklist 1 :
1.    Raccolto    5:43
2.    Triangolazioni    14:42
3.    Triosonic I    3:47
4.    All Is Language    11:01
5.    Our Circular Song    4:25
6.    Coro    4:24
7.    Triosonic II    1:22
8.    In Front Of The Fourth Door    4:33
9.    L'osservanza    4:21
Tracklist 2 :
1.    Lys    5:02
2.    Canto I (Dell'agonia Della Terra)    4:11
3.    Riconoscenza    4:05
4.    Réminiscence Pour Violon Et Piano    4:09
5.    Pourquoi?    3:47
6.    Il Circo Ungherese    3:27
7.    Veritas    1:55
8.    Velario De Marzo    5:04
9.    Recitativo In Memoria Di Luciano Berio    5:40
10.    Canto II (Dell'agonia Dei Cieli)    3:01
11.    Trois Brouillons    6:02
12.    ... Dulci Declinant Lumina Somno ...    3:53
Credits :
Design – Sascha Kleis
Double Bass – Giovanni Maier (tracks: 1-1 to 1-9)
Music By – Dominique Pifarély (tracks: 2-1 to 2-12), Giovanni Maier (tracks: 1-3 to 1-5, 1-7, 1-8), Michele Rabbia (tracks: 1-3 to 1-5, 1-7, 1-8, 2-1 to 2-3, 2-5 to 2-7, 2-9 to 2-12), Stefano Battaglia
Percussion – Michele Rabbia
Piano – Stefano Battaglia
Violin – Dominique Pifarély (tracks: 2-1 to 2-12) 

STEFANO BATTAGLIA · MICHELE RABBIA — Pastorale (2010) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

In this beautiful duo album by two of Italy’s most creative musicians, roles are frequently overturned, as lyrical percussion shades into electronics and texture turns to melody. Stefano Battaglia reminds us that the piano is also a percussion instrument and Michele Rabbia is sensitive to all the tonal implications of drums and cymbals. The musicians play with and without scores in material that is variously open-form, tightly-controlled, inspired by folk idioms, by liturgical music and by art installations. Battaglia allows beautiful themes to ripple through the work, and sounds are given room to blossom. Duets for piano and percussion have long represented an important zone in the work of Stefano Battaglia (in the early 1990s, he collaborated with both Tony Oxley and Pierre Favre). Since 2000, Michele Rabbia has been Battaglia’s principal percussionist, appearing on both of his previous ECM releases – “Raccolto” and “Re: Pasolini” – as an ensemble member and fellow improviser. On “Pastorale” the musicians shape the music together. ECM
Tracklist :
1.    Antifona Libera (A Enzo Bianchi)    6:28
2.    Metaphysical Consolations    5:59
3.    Monasterium    3:55
4.    Oracle    2:28
5.    Kursk Requiem    3:58
6.    Cantar Del Alma    8:05
7.    Spirits Of Myths    4:50
8.    Pastorale    7:00
9.    Sundance In Balkh    5:50
10.    Tanztheater (In Memory Of Pina Bausch)    9:48
11.    Vessel Of Magic    2:56
Credits :
Design – Sascha Kleis
Music By – Michele Rabbia (tracks: 2 to 7, 9 to 11), Stefano Battaglia
Percussion, Electronics – Michele Rabbia
Piano, Piano [Prepared Piano] – Stefano Battaglia
Producer – Manfred Eicher
Text By [Goraknath, English Translation] – Steve Lake (2)
Text By [Poem In Booklet, German] – Rainer Maria Rilke
Text By [R.M. Rilke, English Translation] – Graham Good (2)
Text By [Text In Booklet] – Gorakhnath

STEFANO BATTAGLIA TRIO — The River of Anyder (2011) Two Version | FLAC (image+.tracks+.cue), lossless

The pure water of the Anyder River flowered through Sir Thomas Moore’s “Utopia”. Italian pianist Stefano Battaglia celebrates it and other mythical and legendary locations in a trio recording of new compositions which spurn self-conscious modernity: “I pushed myself to write songs and dances uninfluenced by the sophistication of contemporary musical languages, striving to shape pieces that might have been played on archaic instruments a thousand years ago.” If the piano trio is itself a modern institution and the group understanding that Battaglia, Maioere and Dani share cannot help but be of-the-moment, Battaglia has nonetheless made an album that feels “timeless”. ECM

Italian pianist and composer Stefano Battaglia has recorded three previous offerings for ECM, all in different settings. Interestingly, The River of Anyder is his first to feature his trio, with bassist Salvatore Maiore and drummer/percussionist Roberto Dani. Battaglia, formerly a classical pianist, approaches composition and improvisation from that vantage point. When he does enter the jazz realm, it is through Italy's own grand jazz tradition from the '70s era on. The album was recorded in 2009 and produced by Manfred Eicher at Lugano's Radiotelevisione Svizzera. Location matters, because the silences and spaces on this set are much warmer, and more intimate, than those Eicher usually gets in his Netherlands studio. The ten selections here are all titled for mythical geographies inspired by literary sources as diverse as Thomas More, J.R.R. Tolkein, Rumi, Rimbaud, Black Elk, Hildegard Von Bingen, and Francis Bacon. Battaglia begins the set with "Minas Tirith," introduced by hushed cymbals and a series of skeletal triads, Maiore enters playing the same note pattern, accenting and syncopating before Battaglia lets the still sparse, regal body of the tune come to the fore. The title piece features a near-classical solo prelude for an intro. When Maiore's bass enters with big wooden tones, the work begins to unfold as a minor-key lyric melody, full of elliptical, implied runs on the piano that are actually given forward movement by Dani's drums and percussion. The Rumi-inspired pieces like "Ararat Dance," for starters, find the pianist beginning his jazz ascent, taking a more prominent role, and double-timing his rhythm section with stellar arpeggios and ostinati. "Sham-Bha-Lah," one of the three longest tracks (which are all in the middle of the album), offers skeletal, harmonic frameworks that are fleshed out by drones from Maiore and circular rhythms from Dani. Inspired by von Bingen's "Columba Aspexit" plainchant sequence, Battaglia builds extended modes and knotty half-step arpeggios from her work. "Bensalem" (a mythical island of Atlantis) is the most straight-ahead tune here with pianist and rhythm section engaging one another in a songlike construct that flows openly and freely. Battaglia returns to Rumi in "Ararat Prayer" near the album's close. His minor-key melodic and modal inventions are simultaneously mysterious, fluid, and rhythmic, with gorgeous percussion work from Dani. The River of Anyder is an excellent addition to Battaglia's ECM catalog to be sure; more importantly, however, it is a fine showcase for the power, drama, and discipline of this trio in a recording studio. 
-> This comment is posted on Allmusic by Thom Jurek, follower of our blog 'O Púbis da Rosa' <-
Tracklist :
1.    Minas Tirith    7:32
2.    The River Of Anyder    7:01
3.    Ararat Dance    8:49
4.    Return To Bensalem    7:40
5.    Nowhere Song    2:18
6.    Sham-bha-lah    15:00
7.    Bensalem    12:13
8.    Anagoor    11:07
9.    Ararat Prayer    6:20
10.    Anywhere Song    1:11
Credits :
Design – Sascha Kleis
Double Bass – Salvatore Maiore
Drums – Roberto Dani
Liner Notes [Anywhere Song] – Oglala Sioux Black Elk
Liner Notes [Ararat Dance] – Jalal ad-Din Rumi
Liner Notes [Bensalem] – Francis Bacon 
Liner Notes [Nowhere Song] – Arthur Rimbaud
Liner Notes [Sham-bha-lah] – Hildegard von Bingen
Liner Notes [The River Of Anyder] – Thomas Moore
Piano, Music By – Stefano Battaglia
Producer – Manfred Eicher

STEFANO BATTAGLIA TRIO — Songways (2013) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Italian pianist Stefano Battaglia and his trio develop directions established on their acclaimed 2011 release “The River of Anyder” with a new selection of chants, hymns and dances, all written by Battaglia and inspired by descriptions of visionary places from art and literature – from Alfred Kubin, Jonathan Swift or Charles Fourier to Italo Calvino. “Songways” finds “a new harmonic balance between archaic modal pre-tonal chant and dances, pure tonal songs and hymns and abstract texture,” Battgalia says, “thus documenting the natural development of the Trio life, with a larger space for action from the drums”.ECM

In some ways, Songways is a logical extension of the Stefano Battaglia Trio's immediate predecessor, 2011's River of Anyder. It is only the second date by this fine trio, whose other members are bassist Salvatore Mairoe and drummer Roberto Dani. On River of Anyder, the group established a rich harmonic language that balanced lyric composition with ranging improvisation. If anything, that balance is retained here, but also encompasses a larger harmonic world. Once more recorded at the warm, natural-sounding Auditorio Radiotelevisione Svizzera in Lugano, Battaglia again sought literary references to open up his music. The fictional created a musical geography in Battaglia's imagination to compose terrains for the trio to explore. On Songways, Battaglia's tunes free up Dani -- almost entirely -- from the confines of the timekeeping. Here he functions primarily as a deft texturalist and imaginative colorist -- he only seemingly keeps time on a couple of cuts. Check the way his exquisite cymbal work erases margins between space, color, and melody in opener "Euphonia Elegy." As Battaglia's rustling arpeggios offer a direction, Mairoe picks it up and develops a melody around which the pianist responds and then travels. Dani's cymbals accent, highlight, whisper, rumble, and echo throughout, keeping the songlike nature of the lyricism from ever becoming fixed. Dani does keep time on "Ismaro," titled for the city Odysseus attacked in Homer's poem. Its near-folk melody is stated by the pianist with the bassist helping to create a kind of bridge, but that's a feint; it's only the marker for the improvisation to begin. The title track nods to Italo Calvino's Invisible Cities, but it is also influenced by that dialogic narrative that exists in the geographies between and shared by Battaglia's new forms and modern jazz. The pianist uses phrases from hymnody and juxtaposes them against post-bop amid an elegant flurry of arpeggios as Mairoe provides pulse and lyric counterpoint. "Vondervotteimittis," titled for the clock-obsessed town in Edgar Allan Poe’s The Devil in the Belfry, and "Monte Analogo" named for René Daumal's novel, are the two pieces here in which Battaglia's piano provides a conscious dissonance as a melodic device. Dani's bells, cymbals, and rumbling tom-toms highlight the tension and drama, but are countered by the more gently inquisitive investigations from Mairoe. On "Babel Hymn," Dani's tom-toms offer movement and drama. The modal inquiry by Battaglia is underscored by an insistent yet unobtrusive lyric repetition from Mairoe, who ever so slowly opens up the frame for the tune to move further afield. Songways is European jazz rooted deep in the Italian tradition: it wears both its classicism and post-vanguard lyricism plainly, in the process creating a deft, instinctive, and highly expressionistic music. 
-> This comment is posted on Allmusic by Thom Jurek, follower of our blog 'O Púbis da Rosa' <-
Tracklist :
1.    Euphonia Elegy    12:11
2.    Ismaro    5:09
3.    Vondervotteimittis    7:22
4.    Armonia    13:50
5.    Mildendo Wide Song    6:08
6.    Monte Analogo    6:51
7.    Abdias    3:40
8.    Songways    8:42
9.    Perla    5:17
10.    Babel Hymn    8:52
Credits :
Design – Sascha Kleis
Double Bass – Salvatore Maiore
Drums – Roberto Dani
Piano, Music By – Stefano Battaglia
Producer – Manfred Eicher