«RÖD» – red in Swedish – documents a live set of Italian-Swedish reeds player Alberto Pinton at the legendary Glen Miller Café in Stockholm from May 2018. Pinton performed with his new trio, featuring new associate, double bass player Vilhelm Bromander, and close collaborator, drummer Konrad Agnas, who have played in his recent albums.
Pinton asked Italian illustrator Oreste Sabadin to suggest his own visual impressions of the seven tunes played on this performance. Sabadin’s drawings are part of the cover artwork and reflect the energetic flow of the music, the immediate dynamics of the trio and the cosy and supportive atmosphere of the Glenn Miller Café. These simple drawings were sketched while Sabadin listened to the live recording at his home, while attempting to «live inside the performance ‘moment’».
Pinton composed all the pieces except the trio improvisation «Turmeric Sunset». He is a charismatic leader, well versed with the post-bop heritage but with a strong voice of his own. His tone on the baritone sax on the fiery, opening piece «Il Fiume» is warm, powerful, setting a an addictive and urgent rhythmic vibe with Bromander and Agnas. But the the following trio improvisation opt for a completely different course, a searching, chamber mode that stresses Pinton’s touching, lyrical side along the brilliant bowing work of Bromander and colorful touches of Agnas. The trio resumes its rhythmic mode on «Ed Red», highlighting the gentle, singing tone of Pinton on the alto sax, and is not shy of diving deeper into emotional terrains on the ballad «Blues & Browns», with Pinton playing again the baritone sax.
«Minimalism Maximalism» and «Oro & argento» are an impressive updates of the American post-bop heritage, but with strong, European chamber nuances and an intense dialog between Pinton – who plays the clarinet – and Bromander and Agnas. The trio concludes this beautiful set with the emotional «Rojo, Come de Fuego», cementing its strong yet open interplay.
Eyal Hareuveni
Alberto Pinton (bs, as, cl, bcl), Vilhelm Bromander (b), Konrad Agnas (dr)
