Marco Pacassoni - Hands & Mallets (2021) Hi-Res

This album is the result of an artistic collaboration and a friendship that has lasted for 17 years. A long journey culminating in the jazz of the Marco Pacassoni Quartet and in the Frank & Ruth tribute, dedicated to Zappa. Hands & Mallets includes almost exclusively original compositions from the last year (except two pieces). A synthesis of their career as composers and performers that happens in a global context which, while on the one hand has prevented people from meeting, on the other has favoured introspection, research, and study. The sequence of songs demonstrates how two different compositional approaches can dialogue and create a unique flow that crosses musical genres. In the same way the two musicians dialogue, without overlapping but listening to each other and managing the primary elements (harmony, rhythm, melody, and sound spectrum) in a masterly way and always focusing on the result. It is in fact also a record on the art of comping, listening to Enzo’s orchestral pianism, and on how percussive instruments can reach such a high lyricism, in Marco’s solos. There are three tributes on the album: the first to J.S. Bach, with a famous two-part invention, to which Enzo added the third in a reckless counterpoint exercise. The second Tombeau de Pierre is dedicated to the loving memory of Pierre Ruiz, patron, and producer of the Frank & Ruth album, who died prematurely. The third is a tribute to one of the most beautiful Italian songs ever written: Almeno tu nell’Universo. A piece that is also a song but is in fact absolute music for its balance between melody and harmony, which is respected here without any additives. An example of the universality of music and a wish for hope in such a difficult moment.