Record Reviews

ROBERTO MAGRIS ~ LOVE IS PASSING THRU JMOOD 023 (Barcode: 741718929039) ~ ITALY ~ Jazz Recorded: 2005 Released: 2024 This is an album by Italian Jazz pianist / composer / bandleader and my Friend Roberto MagrisFind albums by this artist, recorded in a quartet setting with Italian Jazz musicians: saxophonist Ettore MartinFind albums by this artist, bassist Danilo GalloFind albums by this artist and drummer Enzo CarpenteriFind albums by this artist. The album presents thirteen tracks, which offer solo, duo, trio and quartet recordings. Two of the tracks are original compositions by Magris, nine are standards and two are renditions of Italian Pop songs. The album was recorded in 2005 and was originally intended for release on the legendary Italian Black Saint / Soul Note labels, but the labels were sold and the album remained unreleased. The current passing of Carpenteri prompted Magris to finally release the album on his home label, the American JMoodFind albums on this label Records. The sound quality of the recording is remarkable. The general theme of the album is love, and the compositions are all somehow connected to that theme, but the music offers a diverse stylistic range, from melodic mainstream to Free Jazz. Despite that stylistic variety, the music offers perfectly coherent continuity, proving that the Jazz spirit is completely independent of the specifics and can’t be limited to one aesthetic approach. Magris and his cohorts are all seasoned musicians with wide experience and more importantly the special Italian “thing”, which surfaces in almost every Italian Jazz album, a sublime melodic approach, which goes back hundreds of years in Italian music tradition. As a result, many of the tracks on this album offer a heartwrenching melancholy, which is only to be expected. Overall, this is a wonderful piece of music, which offers a nice collection of familiar tunes in new interpretations as well as some unusual music, altogether an excellent listening experience and first class musicianship. Good to have this material out at last, as it certainly is worth being listened to. Well done my Friend! Side Note: Magris recorded an album for my JazzisFind albums on this label Records label in 1990 with his quartet, expanded to a sextet by two Israeli musicians, called “Life In IsraelFind albums with this title”, and we have been in touch ever since.

Updated: 24/04/2024Posted: 24/04/2024

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ROBERTO MAGRIS ~ LOVELY DAY(S) JMOOD 025 (Barcode: 736649929814) ~ ITALY ~ Jazz Recorded: 2024 Released: 2025 This is a solo piano album by Italian Jazz pianist / composer / bandleader Roberto MagrisFind albums by this artist. The album presents nine tracks, one of which is an original composition by Magris and the rest present a wide range of composers, covering a widespread stylistic range between Leonard BernsteinFind albums by this artist and Andrew HillFind albums by this artist, with some Thelonious MonkFind albums by this artist and Steve KuhnFind albums by this artist in between. Seven of the tracks are studio recordings and two were recorded live. I have had the pleasure to producing a live album with Roberto in the early days of his career, which was released on my label JazzisFind albums on this label Records in 1990, and of course I have been closely following his path since then. He managed to build up an impressive career over the years, which includes dozens of albums as a leader, but strangely he never attempted a solo piano album before, which makes this album really special. Of course solo piano albums are the most “naked” form of a Jazz musician’s exposure, and this album demonstrates this phenomenon perfectly. Rather than performing his own compositions, which is always very tempting, Magris presents a selection of compositions by composers, who influenced him over the years, and which becomes in a sense a tribute to the great musicians, who inspired him. Stylistically the music covers the entire range of Jazz, including the fundamental Blues moves and the entire mainstream Jazz universe, and even touching marginally on the Avant-Garde. Although challenging, the music finds Magris completely relaxed, but fully engulfed in the music, adding his very personal touch. The fact, that the music is so diverse and performed somewhat playfully, makes listening to the music a wonderful experience, which is both entertaining and aesthetically satisfying, and as such making it accessible to a wide range of listeners from the entire Jazz spectrum. Overall, this is a beautiful solo piano Jazz album, which is as entertaining as it is educational, paying a tribute to some of Jazz most revered composers and including some rarely performed Jazz treasures. Thank you, my Friend, for the gift of music!

Updated: 12/10/2025Posted: 12/10/2025

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