Admir Shkurtaj Trio - Gestures and Zoom (2012)

Startlingly strange music from Albanian/Italian trio led by pianist and accordionist Admir Shkurtaj, who combine free jazz with folk, Baltic and Eastern European sounds.

The starting points for Shkurtaj's music are not themes or melodies but what he refers to as "musical mechanisms" or extra-musical ideas; frameworks to build themes on - musical series, rhythmical series, series of sounds or sonic gestures. The trio's improvisation guided or "forced" by these frames unleashes surprising freedom. Elements of traditional music, from the Albanian tradition, burst here and there more in a distant memory than a living reality.

Albanian musicians Shkurtaj and cellist Redi Hasa crossed the Adriatic to join trumpeter Giorgio Distante in his home province of Lecce in the part of Italy called Apulia, to record the album.

“Despite the delicate madness that follows it, the album’s introductory piece is duly exploratory. Shkurtaj’s tinkering pianism seems to deconstruct as much as it builds. The insightful processes therein foil the slalom course of “Disegni” and “Olmi,” which respectively showcase the tremendously expressive abilities of Distante and Hasa. “Improntrio” is another spiraling ride - the DNA helix as roller coaster - and reaches some dizzying heights of pitch, a ghostly conversation in fast-forward...Gestures and Zoom balances improvisation and composition with great skill. Shkurtaj makes it obvious where one begins and the other ends, and so on until the resulting blend finds solidity in an emerging narrative...What is challenging yet also enjoyable about this record is the detail of its fire. Nowhere is this clearer than in the title track. In bubbling voices and instrumental scrimshaw, an explicit liberation begins to take shape.” - Tyran Grillo, Between Sound and Space: ECM Records and Beyond

“This is an incredible acoustic trio. The combination of accordion (or pianoforte), trombone and cello is certainly unique and they don't quite sound like any other trio that I've heard. Shkurtaj has written some demanding, odd music for the trio. There is a blend of ethnic, folk and classical influences with lots of quirkiness thrown in. Shkurtaj plays mostly accordion on many of these pieces and he is indeed pretty amazing as are his two trusty collaborators...This is a great studio recording so that the balance between all three instruments is up-close and perfect...If you like your improv intense, focused and occasionally over-the-top with a good dose of humorous bits as well, then my friend, this disc is for you." - Bruce Lee Gallanter, Downtown Music Gallery