I confess that Sicilian bassist Luca Lo Bianco was unknown to me until Samuel Leipold’s recent album Ostro. He’s equally proficient on electric and acoustic instruments, and his tasteful playing has graced over 40 recordings by artists including Gunther Schuller, Adam Rudolph, Duško Gojković and Amy Denio. This is his third release as leader.
A little closer to the contemporary mainstream than the austere chamber jazz of Leipold’s trio, Human Plots – Six Extraordinary Acts And A City is imbued with a sense of warmth and hope. Leipold is a key member of the quartet, and whether soloing or comping his incisive guitar is the perfect foil for Succi’s Sclavis-eqsue reeds. Rounding out the group is young Swiss drummer Clemens Kuratle, a resourceful player and one to watch.
Lo Bianco’s six crystal-cut originals were each inspired by stories of human heroism. Dancing to a traditional Ashanti rhythm, The Librarian Of Timbuktu builds patiently and is dedicated to Abdel Kader Haidara, saviour of many priceless Malian manuscripts. Road Builder is for pioneering 18th century civil engineer John Metcalf, and as its metaphorical network of musical building-blocks expands the quartet’s interactions grow in complexity.
The Choice is dedicated to female judo pioneer Keiko Fukuda, Leipold’s vaguely ambient swells presaging a deep groove and some fiery alto from Succi. This Heavy Handbag is a reflective ballad for Swede Danuta Danielsson, who famously confronted angry neo-Nazi protesters, while 323 is inspired by Turkish musical freedom fighters Grup Yorum and harbours some of the set’s more extrovert exchanges.
Elsewhere Sarajevo Taxi Driver’s pulsating 5/4 is for Miomir Mile Plakalovic, rescuer of countless victims of sniper fire, while the achingly poignant reading of Paul Simon’s Silent Eyes finds Leipold channelling his inner Frisell as the quartet lament the seemingly irreconcilable conflicts surrounding the historic city of Jerusalem. Impressive.
Discography
The Librarian Of Timbuktu; Road Builder; The Choice; This Heavy Handbag; 323; Sarajevo Taxi Driver; Silent Eyes (39.55)
Lo Bianco (b) with Achille Succi (as, cl, bcl); Samuel Leipold (elg); Clemens Kuratle (d). Grazie, Mantova, Italy. No date.
GleAM Records AM7016
