«Canto» is the third album of the Copenhagen-based trio of Italian keyboards player Emanuele Maniscalco and reeds player Francesco Bigoni with Danish guitarist, but with deep Latin roots, Mark Solborg (who also did the cover artwork using images generated from De Jong Attractors). Solborg, Bigoni and Maniscalco have, together and separately, performed and recorded intensely for over a decade, and collaborated with some of the most innovative European and American improvisers. Solborg and Bigoni play together in the On Dog quintet, and Solborg hosted Bigoni on his TUNGEMÅL project. Maniscalco and Bigoni played in Maria Faust Sacrum Facere.
As the title suggests, this musical collective now sings its way through the cantos of a new book of 12 concise pieces that encompass its rich musical poetry. And as on its previous albums (the self-titled debut and «Foil», 2015 and 2018, both on Ilk Music), this trio stresses intimacy and close, conversational dynamics, that interprets honor and challenge the written pieces, composed by all three musicians. «Canto» also highlights the delicate and balanced, multilayered electroacoustic and chamber trio’s sound of warm analog keyboards, guitar strings and acoustic reeds, ornamented with subtle electronics, granular processing and microtonality.
This series of cantos opt for simple yet poetic whispers and rarely for a shout, and never fit into a familiar genre or stylistic conventions. The trio focuses on navigating freely with and around the spacious, lyrical pieces like Maniscalco’s haunting «Simple Melody» and dreamy «Miracle Beams Surrounding», Solborg’s innocent «Soy» or Bigoni’s «Dole over Beethoven», with great focus on detail, deep listening and commanding elegance. But the trio adapts the same approach even when it experiments with abstract landscapes like Bigoni’s «Plate», the free improvised and sound-oriented «WigWag», or Solborg’s tense title piece. Such profound and rare beauty is achieved only when kindred spirits meet and keep refining their poetic agenda.
Eyal Hareuveni
Francesco Bigoni (ts, as, cl), Mark Solborg (g, devices, elec), Emanuele Maniscalco (Rhodes, p, keys)
