Francesco Bearzatti - Dear John (2019)

When the composer Arnold Schoenberg was told that many young composers were using his twelve-tone method, he replied “Yes, but are they making music with it?”. The same might be said of John Coltrane’s pervasive influence on modern jazz, and on saxophone playing in particular. Francesco Bearzatti is a Coltrane disciple and Dear John a love letter to the master, but Bearzatti doesn’t just copy Coltrane’s sound and signature techniques. Together with pianist Benjamin Moussay, who plays an electric instrument throughout, and drummer Roberto Gatto, they pay homage to the legacy even as they extend it. The music is mostly Bearzatti’s own, but with an immaculately reimagined version of Coltrane’s “Dear Lord” and the traditional “One Love” as the climax. There are hints of a Caribbean and modern electronic aesthetic which introduce a new and highly individual element to the music. Don’t be in haste to file this one on the long shelf of “Coltrane tributes”. Dear John is that, but much more, a vibrantly spiritual, warmly humane but deeply serious response to the universal challenge of the Coltrane discography. Sometimes, originality lies in sincere imitation and then in a respectful questioning of tradition. (Brian Morton)

Tracklist:
01. Francesco Bearzatti - One Love
02. Francesco Bearzatti - Dear John
03. Francesco Bearzatti - Another Suspense
04. Francesco Bearzatti - Like A Prayer
05. Francesco Bearzatti - Like Jonny
06. Francesco Bearzatti - East Trane
07. Francesco Bearzatti - Dear Lord/one Love