Da Vinci Jazz
Davide Liberti, Gianni Virone, Mattia Barbieri
Chance
Gianni Virone — tenor and soprano saxophones · Davide Liberti — double bass · Mattia Barbieri — drums and percussion
Eleven original pieces shaped by the trio’s long partnership, from rock and second-line rhythms to tributes to Elvin Jones, John Coltrane, Charlie Parker and Ornette Coleman.
13.67€
Digital programme · 11 tracks
Track timings refer to the digital edition. Compositions: Gianni Virone, except track 8 by Mattia Barbieri and track 9 by Davide Liberti.
Davide Liberti was born in Turin in 1980. He began on electric bass, but hearing Scott LaFaro inspired him to take up the double bass at the age of eighteen. The music of Bill Evans’s trios has had a strong influence on his technical and expressive development.
For many years he has played a five-string double bass with a high C string, allowing him to explore the instrument beyond its rhythmic function and use it as a second or third melodic voice, particularly in small ensembles. On Chance, he plays with Gianni Virone and Mattia Barbieri and contributes the composition Amore spettinato.
Gianni Virone is a saxophonist, arranger and composer from Chieri, near Turin, Italy. Professionally active since 2002, he has worked with small ensembles, big bands and orchestras, and in recording sessions as an arranger, section player and soloist. He also performs his own compositions with his trio. His teaching encompasses saxophone, improvisation, jazz harmony, composition, arranging and big-band performance.
He graduated with the highest marks and honours from the Giuseppe Verdi Conservatory in Turin, studying with Furio Di Castri. He attended masterclasses in Italy and abroad with musicians including Dave Liebman, Airto Moreira, Jerry Bergonzi, Enrico Rava, Gianluigi Trovesi, Steve Coleman and Ayn Inserto. He received scholarships at Siena Jazz in 2002 and Nuoro Jazz in 2003, where he was also recognised as the best student. Following the Nuoro workshop, he was selected to perform at the 2004 Berchidda Jazz Festival.
In 2003 he won the Talens competition for jazz soloists organised by the Istituto Musicale di Rivoli, and attended the New School University’s summer workshop in Bassano del Grappa, where he was selected for a scholarship. He won the first national Nuovi Talenti del Jazz Italiano competition in 2004 and was a finalist that year in the Premio Nazionale Massimo Urbani. His writing for large jazz ensembles reached the finals of Barga Jazz in 2007 and Scrivere in Jazz in 2010 and 2014.
As both arranger and section player, he has worked with several big bands, playing saxophones, clarinet, bass clarinet and flute. His collaborators have included Paolo Fresu, Furio Di Castri, Roberto Gatto, Gianni Basso, John Riley, Fabrizio Bosso, Flavio Boltro, Javier Girotto, Rita Marcotulli, Scott Hamilton, Dusko Gojkovic, Jimmy Cobb, Philip Harper, Terell Stafford, Eric Vloeimans, Maria Pia De Vito, Danilo Rea, Emanuele Cisi, John De Leo, Nguyên Lê and Pietro Tonolo. He has been an endorser of the Italian saxophone maker Rampone & Cazzani since 2004.
Mattia Barbieri was born in 1978 and began performing professionally at the age of seventeen. In 2000 he joined Furio Di Castri’s European Youth Orchestra. He has toured internationally with Richard Galliano’s quintet and collaborated with Peppe Servillo, Fabrizio Bosso, Javier Girotto, Rita Marcotulli and Furio Di Castri, as well as the BBB Trio with Flavio Boltro and Mauro Battisti. His work with Mau Mau began in 2004.
His other collaborators include Rossana Casale, Franco D’Andrea, Francesco Bearzatti, Stefano Risso, Fabrizio Rat, Gianluca Petrella, Samuel Romano of Subsonica, Paolino Dalla Porta, Nguyên Lê, Marco Tamburini, Achille Succi, Bebo Ferra, Emanuele Cisi, Jino Touche, Antonio Marangolo, Monovox, Luca Vicini (BassVicio), Davide Di Leo (Boosta), Isabel Sörling, Diego Borotti, Giorgio Li Calzi and Mao e la Rivoluzione.
On Chance, Barbieri plays drums and percussion with Gianni Virone and Davide Liberti and contributes Drums Intro [to Amore spettinato].
Davide Liberti was born in Turin in 1980. He began on electric bass, but hearing Scott LaFaro inspired him to take up the double bass at the age of eighteen. The music of Bill Evans’s trios has had a strong influence on his technical and expressive development.
For many years he has played a five-string double bass with a high C string, allowing him to explore the instrument beyond its rhythmic function and use it as a second or third melodic voice, particularly in small ensembles. On Chance, he plays with Gianni Virone and Mattia Barbieri and contributes the composition Amore spettinato.
Gianni Virone is a saxophonist, arranger and composer from Chieri, near Turin, Italy. Professionally active since 2002, he has worked with small ensembles, big bands and orchestras, and in recording sessions as an arranger, section player and soloist. He also performs his own compositions with his trio. His teaching encompasses saxophone, improvisation, jazz harmony, composition, arranging and big-band performance.
He graduated with the highest marks and honours from the Giuseppe Verdi Conservatory in Turin, studying with Furio Di Castri. He attended masterclasses in Italy and abroad with musicians including Dave Liebman, Airto Moreira, Jerry Bergonzi, Enrico Rava, Gianluigi Trovesi, Steve Coleman and Ayn Inserto. He received scholarships at Siena Jazz in 2002 and Nuoro Jazz in 2003, where he was also recognised as the best student. Following the Nuoro workshop, he was selected to perform at the 2004 Berchidda Jazz Festival.
In 2003 he won the Talens competition for jazz soloists organised by the Istituto Musicale di Rivoli, and attended the New School University’s summer workshop in Bassano del Grappa, where he was selected for a scholarship. He won the first national Nuovi Talenti del Jazz Italiano competition in 2004 and was a finalist that year in the Premio Nazionale Massimo Urbani. His writing for large jazz ensembles reached the finals of Barga Jazz in 2007 and Scrivere in Jazz in 2010 and 2014.
As both arranger and section player, he has worked with several big bands, playing saxophones, clarinet, bass clarinet and flute. His collaborators have included Paolo Fresu, Furio Di Castri, Roberto Gatto, Gianni Basso, John Riley, Fabrizio Bosso, Flavio Boltro, Javier Girotto, Rita Marcotulli, Scott Hamilton, Dusko Gojkovic, Jimmy Cobb, Philip Harper, Terell Stafford, Eric Vloeimans, Maria Pia De Vito, Danilo Rea, Emanuele Cisi, John De Leo, Nguyên Lê and Pietro Tonolo. He has been an endorser of the Italian saxophone maker Rampone & Cazzani since 2004.
Mattia Barbieri was born in 1978 and began performing professionally at the age of seventeen. In 2000 he joined Furio Di Castri’s European Youth Orchestra. He has toured internationally with Richard Galliano’s quintet and collaborated with Peppe Servillo, Fabrizio Bosso, Javier Girotto, Rita Marcotulli and Furio Di Castri, as well as the BBB Trio with Flavio Boltro and Mauro Battisti. His work with Mau Mau began in 2004.
His other collaborators include Rossana Casale, Franco D’Andrea, Francesco Bearzatti, Stefano Risso, Fabrizio Rat, Gianluca Petrella, Samuel Romano of Subsonica, Paolino Dalla Porta, Nguyên Lê, Marco Tamburini, Achille Succi, Bebo Ferra, Emanuele Cisi, Jino Touche, Antonio Marangolo, Monovox, Luca Vicini (BassVicio), Davide Di Leo (Boosta), Isabel Sörling, Diego Borotti, Giorgio Li Calzi and Mao e la Rivoluzione.
On Chance, Barbieri plays drums and percussion with Gianni Virone and Davide Liberti and contributes Drums Intro [to Amore spettinato].
Chance Album notes by Gianni Virone, originally translated by Fabiana Binarelli. English revised from the booklet. Almost a decade after our first album, Frammenti, released by the Italian label Silta Records, we are happy to be together again to present this new recording, Chance. It is an album that represents us in every detail, with original compositions written expressly for this group. Our trio has a long history: we have been playing together for around fifteen years. We began when we were young, giving us the opportunity to explore both…
Album notes by Gianni Virone, originally translated by Fabiana Binarelli. English revised from the booklet.
Almost a decade after our first album, Frammenti, released by the Italian label Silta Records, we are happy to be together again to present this new recording, Chance. It is an album that represents us in every detail, with original compositions written expressly for this group.
Our trio has a long history: we have been playing together for around fifteen years. We began when we were young, giving us the opportunity to explore both our individual abilities and the sound of the group. We have grown together as close friends and as professionals in the complicated world of live music. We have shared many musical experiences, festivals and clubs in Italy and abroad, including projects outside the trio, and each of us works with internationally recognised artists. Yet whenever we return to playing together, the magic is still there, note after note, even after a long interval. It seems to come from some distant, elusive source.
Although I have worked with many outstanding artists, only with Mattia and Davide do I feel completely “at home”. I cannot explain why, but they never cease to stimulate my creativity as a composer and, above all, as an improviser. When we play together, ideas flow naturally. I only need to organise them as well as I can during the performance, and the music takes us into unexplored territory. We enjoy that risk because we trust one another and are not afraid of failure. For me, this is the most exciting part of improvisation: allowing ourselves to be carried by the feelings of the moment and inventing a new story together, as though we already knew it.
We like to think of improvisation as teamwork. Each player has a role, working with the others to create music that is dynamic, spontaneous and full of energy. Over the years we have played a great deal of music, from traditional standards to works by past masters that suit our ensemble. Composition has always been a passion of mine, and I have tried to develop ideas that could work especially well with this group. The pieces on this album are a carefully chosen selection from the experiments of those years.
Each composition has its own characteristic sound: the rock sonorities of Chance, the tribal rhythms of Dancer, the atonality of Lontani da un centro and the more traditional second-line feel of Duke’s Riff, dedicated to the great master. Dynamism, energy and unpredictability are central to our trio’s sound. Every performance can be very different, even when we explore the same compositions.
MacGuffin perhaps best represents the way we think about improvised music. I dedicated it to Alfred Hitchcock, the master of suspense and intrigue, whose stories unfold in unexpected and captivating ways. Most of the other pieces also pay tribute to major figures of the past. Blues for Elvin is dedicated to drummer Elvin Jones; Trane’s Attitude is built on Coltrane changes; and Ornettology brings Charlie Parker and Ornette Coleman together through an asymmetrical treatment of rhythm changes.
At the time of this recording, high-quality live music was suffering from a lack of funding and cultural support, particularly in Italy. Every artist hopes for the chance to share their music. We therefore hope that the title Chance will bring good fortune to the future of our group.
Gianni Virone — tenor and soprano saxophones.
Davide Liberti — double bass.
Mattia Barbieri — drums and percussion.
All compositions are by Gianni Virone except Drums Intro [to Amore spettinato], by Mattia Barbieri, and Amore spettinato, by Davide Liberti. Virone plays a Buescher “Big B” tenor saxophone made in 1942 and a handmade Rampone & Cazzani R1 Jazz saxello.
“I would like to thank Mattia and Davide for their constant inspiration and professionalism. They are part of a project that could not exist with other musicians. I also thank Carlo Miori, Alessandro Dante and Cristina Borio for their technical support, my family, and finally Sonia and Ilaria: my life.” — Gianni Virone
Recorded and mixed at Only Music Studio, Bruino, Turin, Italy, in September–October 2017 by Carlo Miori.
Photographs: Cristina Borio.
Production, design and art direction: OMK-Da Vinci.
Printed with the support of S.P.L.M.
Selected awards, reviews and interviews. Radio broadcasts and podcasts are listed separately below.
GRooVE back Magazine
The listening guide to Da Vinci Jazz’s sampler discusses Chance and its trio sound through Ornettology, highlighting its tribute to Ornette Coleman. A critical mention within a catalogue survey, rather than a standalone rated album review.
Read the review ↗ — GRooVE back Magazine
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