Federico Frassi - Right Time (2021)

A record that ranges between traditional jazz, swing and Bebop with a fresh and modern sound. This is how Right Time presents itself, debut as a leader of the young Tuscan pianist Federico Frassi which comes out on July 16, 2021 for the Emme Record Label. A project in which Matteo Anelli on double bass, Edoardo Battaglia on drums and Mauro La Mancusa on trumpet took part, with the special participation of Nico Gori as special guest on clarinet and sax on four tracks. This work consists of nine songs (four original and five standard), and is mainly oriented on the mainstream, with swing as the predominant feature, in which the love for tradition and for the Bebop language is palpable. Despite this, there are also clearly more modern sounds, as in the piece Endless Stars by the American pianist Fred Hersch, to which Federico dedicated his thesis at Siena Jazz University, and which represents an exemplary reference model for the most refined and evolved.
The mainstream language linked to the Bebop aesthetic is perceptible above all in the three standards in which Nico Gori takes part, namely The Way You Look Tonight by Jerome Kern (with Gori on soprano sax), the blues Straight No Chaser by Thelonious Monk (with Gori at clarinet) and finally the romantic My Foolish Heart by Victor Young, with a solo tenor sax intro. The fourth and last standard chosen is the refined In Your Own Sweet Way by Dave Brubeck, for which Frassi chooses the tone of the Fender Rhodes, as already in My Foolish Heart. The original tracks are Funny Moments, a fast swing played in quintet with Nico Gori, the sweet ballad Sweet Notes, the 3/4 Serenity Waltz, played with the Fender Rhodes, and finally Blue Waves, a bossa with unexpected colors. In these last two songs, with a decidedly more modern sound, you can appreciate some interesting harmonies that result in pantonality.