ARMAROLI | PICCOLO | SHARP

• PRESSRELEASE

Prodotto da Dodicilune, distribuito in Italia e all’estero da IRD e nei principali store online da BELIEVE DIGITAL, mercoledì 2 luglio 2025 esce “Imaginary Songbook“, il nuovo doppio CD del trio composto da alcune tra le figure artistiche più iconiche della scena musicale internazionale legata al jazz sperimentale e di avanguardia: Sergio Armaroli al vibrafono, Elliott Sharp, alle chitarre e al sax soprano, Steve Piccolo, al basso elettrico, voci ed elettroniche. Un progetto molto particolare che nasce dal dialogo e dall’invenzione attraverso frammenti di melodie e voci, echi, strutture armoniche, riff, incipit ritmici per un totale di 64 brani standard, tra reali e immaginari, brevi o brevissimi, per un totale di quasi due ore di musica.

• PRESSRELEASE (English)

Produced by Dodicilune, distributed in Italy and abroad by IRD and in major online stores by BELIEVE DIGITAL, Wednesday, 2 July 2025 sees the release of “Imaginary Songbook”, the new double CD by the trio composed of some of the most iconic figures on the international music scene linked to experimental and avant-garde jazz: Sergio Armaroli on vibraphone, Elliott Sharp on guitars and soprano saxophone, and Steve Piccolo on electric bass, vocals and electronics. A very special project born from dialogue and invention through fragments of melodies and voices, echoes, harmonic structures, riffs, and rhythmic incipits for a total of 64 standard tracks, both real and imaginary, short or very short, for a total of almost two hours of music.

• TRACKLIST

DISC 1

1) Serenade in Blue
2) There’s No You
3) Autumn in Milano
4) Silent Reflections
5) The Girl from Ipanema
6) Eternal Groove
7) Morning Mist
8) What Am I Here For?
9) Gentle Rain
10) This is Always
11) Bag’s Groove
12) Serenade in Blue (alt. take)
13) Just One Of Those Things
14) Lazy Afternoon
15) Evening Stroll
16) Cool Breeze
17) Jazz in the Park
18) Velvet Night
19) I Wish I Were In Love Again
20) Harlem Nocturne
21) Love Walked In
22) Come Fly With Me
23) Begin the Beguine
24) Velvet Visions
25) Those Eyes
26) Then I’ll Be Tired Of You
27) They Can’t Take That Away From Me
28) City Lights
29) Neon Nights
30) The Best Is Yet To Come
31)Echoes of Eternity
32) Dusk Dreaming
33) A House is Not A Home
34) Love Is Here To Stay
35) Sultry Samba
36) Jumpin’ Jive

DISC 2

37) Some Other Time
38) Echoes of The Past
39) Love Me Or Leave Me
40) Good Bait
41) Lover’s Lament
42) Walkin’
43) Those Eyes (alt. take)
44) The Best Is Yet To Come (alt. take)
45) Blue Velvet
46) ‘Tis Autumn
47) You Do Something To Me
48) Don’t Be Blue
49) The Girl From Ipanema (alt. take)
50) City Dreams
51) Soft Evening
52) Lullaby for Lovers
53) Dream Dancing
54) Round Midnight
55) Evening Star
56) My Man’s Gone Now
57) City Shadow
58) How Long Has This Been Going On?
59) You Make Me Feel So Young
60) Crimson Glow
61) The Quiet Lull of the Evening Sea
62) Yeehaw and No
63) Soft Lullaby for the Evening Star
64) You Are There

• COMPOSITIONS BY

All compositions by Sergio Armaroli, Elliott Sharp except 1, 10, 12 by Harry Warren, 2 by Tom Adair; 5, 13/2 by Antonio Carlos Jobim, Vinicius De Moraes; 8 by Duke Ellington; 11 by Milt Jackson; 13, 23, 11/2, 17/2 by Cole Porter; 19 by Richard Rodgers; 21, 27, 34, 20/2, 22/2 by George Gershwin; 22 by Sammy Cahn; 25, 7/2 by Rosa Passos; 26 by E. Y. Harburg; 30, 8/2 by Cy Coleman; 33 by Burt Bacharach; 36 by Cab Calloway; 1/2 by Leonard Bernstein; 3/2 by Gus Kahn; 4/2 by Tadd Dameron; 6/2 by Miles Davis, 10/2 by Henry Nemo; 12/2 by Michael Frank; 18/2 by Thelonious Monk; 23/2 by Mack Gordon; 28/2 by Johnny Mandel. All lyrics by Steve Piccolo except 2 by Harold S. Hopper; 5, 13/2 by Norman Gimbel; 8 by Frankie Laine; 10, 12 by Mack Gordon; 19 by Lorenz Hart; 21, 27, 34, 20/2, 22/2 by Ira Gershwin; 22 by Jimmy Van Heusen; 26 by Arthur Schwartz; 30, 8/2 by Caroline Leigh; 33 by Hal David; 3/2 by Walter Donaldson; 12/2 by John Guerin; 23/2 by Joseph Myrow; 28/2 by Dave Frishberg.

• PERSONNEL

Sergio Armaroli, vibraphone

Elliott Sharp, guitars, soprano saxophone

Steve Piccolo, electric bass, voices, electronic devices

• PRODUCTION DATA

Total time 52:24 + 42:04 STEREO DDD

℗ 2025 DODICILUNE (Italy)

© 2025 DODICILUNE (Italy)

www.dodicilunedischi.it
CD

DODICILUNE DISCHI Ed581

8059772565813

• RECORDING DATA

Produced by Sergio Armaroli and Maurizio Bizzochetti, Dodicilune. Recorded 15, 16 September 2023 by Raffaele Stefani at Blackstars Recording Studio, Milan, Italy. Mixed and mastered 1 December 2023 by Elliot Sharp at ES Studio, New York City, Usa. Cover drawing by Sergio Armaroli. Photos by Fabio Selvafiorita. Contact: sergioarmaroli.com, stevepiccolo.com, elliottsharp.com

RECENSIONI | REVIEWS

Curioso, originalissimo e affascinante questo Imaginary Songbook in uscita per Dodicilune. Il trio Sergio Armaroli-Steve Piccolo-Elliott Sharp mette in fila ben 64 micro-tracce lavorando soprattutto su lacerti di standard e di classici del jazz. Si prendono parti degli originali lavorandoci sopra per due minuti al massimo, poi si passa al brano successivo, quasi senza soluzione di continuità. La "fonte" viene adeguatamente celebrata e al contempo dissacrata a colpi di vibrafono, sax, basso elettrico, elettronica e inserti vocali. Ne sono usciti ben due CD zeppi di Jobim e De Moraes, Ellington e Miles, Milt Jackson e Tadd Dameron, Gershwin e Porter, Bacharach e Monk, oltre a un bel po' di pezzi scritti per l'occasione. Un'orgia di appunti sonori godibilissimi...

Pietro Cozzi