Giuseppe Cistola Quintet - Por La Calle Argentina (2020)

A melancholy record, with an innate melodic sense that represents the journey of an artist in a land of great charm and a thousand contradictions. This is how Por La Calle Argentina, the latest album by guitarist Giuseppe Cistola released for the Emme Record Label on February 27, 2020. A project in which Marco Postacchini participated on the tenor sax and soprano, Simone Maggio on the piano, Lorenzo Scipioni on the double bass and Michele Sperandio on drums. The disc is a synthesis of the experiences and emotions lived by Giuseppe Cistola during his stay in Argentina: music is in fact an emotional lift that gives back moments of life with ten songs that contain memories, flavors, colors and scents of a distant country recalled with that pinch of melancholy generated by the distance. In addition, since the disc tells about the author's stay in South America, we can say that every song, every single note fully represents a slice of life. We therefore move from minimal atmospheres, where an innate melodic sense stands out, to more decisive rhythms characterized by more intense grooves that nevertheless never take space from the melody. In short, a nice cultural mix in which modern jazz is combined with elements belonging to tradition.

Among the main compositions of this work we undoubtedly mention the title track: this song, in fact, is in close relationship with the cover, made on a white canvas by the Argentine painter Fran Sosa after listening to the music composed by Giuseppe Cistola. A composition that speaks of moments of life lived on the streets of Buenos Aires and which fully summarizes the soul of this versatile and multifaceted musician. The song is melodic, has a melancholic, dreamlike flavor and represents a call and a dedication to a country that has left very clear images and sensations in its memory. 5-3 is instead a piece that describes the beginning of a journey and that stands out as a crescendo of emotions: the music is initially minimal and going forward becomes more and more clear leaving space for the instruments that from time to time express the their idea, always keeping particular attention to the melody. Finally, Escape is a fast piece in which an evocative race tells a city like Buenos Aires, (not surprisingly called the city of Fury) well painted by a sax that follows a repetitive theme in some ways similar to the horn of cars lost in traffic. In summary Por la Calle Argentina is an inner journey and, once listened to, it can be considered as such even for those who have never been to this country so full of charm.