Tiziano Tononi, Daniele Cavallanti & Nexus - Open Mouth Blues (Remastered) (2026) [Hi-Res]

After an unreleased recording from 1981 that reveals how energy has been a cornerstone of the group’s poetics from the very beginning, Nexus expanded to a quintet in 1983 with the addition of Pino Minafra on trumpet. It was this lineup that recorded Open Mouth Blues.
The work is as lively as ever, full of bold, affirmative moods and colors, containing all the jazz we might call post-Mingusian, though not without emblematic archaic reminiscences. The crackling colors of marching bands, certain “fat” mutes by Minafra that recall Ellingtonian jungle style, Bonvini’s generous trombone, reminiscent of Roswell Rudd and Kid Ory….
Important intermediaries in this whole process were, on the one hand, Roland Kirk – to whom, years later, Tononi would dedicate a memorable triple CD, infused with all the knowledge – and flavor – of Nexus, expanded -, and on the other, the Art Ensemble of Chicago (and here too there would be a lot to say).

Alberto Bazzurro

Daniele Cavallanti, tenor saxophone, baritone saxophone
Pino Minafra, trumpet, flugelhorn
Luca Bonvini, trombone, sackbut
Paolino Dalla Porta, bass, kalimba, tambourine
Tiziano Tononi, drums, percussion, marimba, agogô, cabasa, rainstick, temple block, gong