2008-07-04
Jazz & Blues Report by Nancy Ann Lee - Review
ANTONIO CIACCA QUINTET
Rush Life
MOTEMA MUSIC LLC
Featuring his quintet on his first recording since relocating
to New York City, pianist Antonio Ciacca delivers
a nine-tune mix of six originals and three standards. Together,
Ciacca’s NYC team featuring Kengo Nakamura
(bass), Rodney Green (drums), Stacy Dillard (tenor sax),
and Joe Magnarelli (trumpet) delivers a tidy set of swingers
and ballads that listeners will find most enjoyable.
Their set launches with Ciacca’s original, “Squazin,”
a frisky number dedicated to Wynton Marsalis. Ciacca’s
“Chipewha,” based on the chords to “Cherokee,” begins
slowly and builds to a fierce boppish tempo. His other
originals—“Flat 5 Flat 9,” “Riverdale,” “Price of Newark,”
and the splendid ballad rending of the title tune are innovative,
well-written numbers that highlight the talents of
his band mates. Standards given fresh treatments include
“I Remember Clifford,” “Green Dolphin Street,” and “Without
A Song,” but it’s Ciacca’s originals that sparkle with
imagination brought to life by his stellar sidemen.
Ciacca’s performances prove his mastery of the keyboard
as well as a passionate sense of expression, which
his musicians match in their solos.
Ciacca was born in Germany (March 14, 1969) and
raised in Italy where he studied European classical music
before switching to jazz at age 20. After performing
with some American jazz greats in Bologna, Ciacca came
to the USA, briefly settling in Detroit before returning to
Italy. Afterwards, he would make annual visits to New
York before finally settling there in 2007 and taking on
the position of Director of Programming at Jazz at Lincoln
Center.
This superb recording demonstrates Ciacca’s immersion
in the language of jazz, as well as his talents in performing,
composing and putting together a first-rate band.
Nancy Ann Lee
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