June 24, 2022
Canto - Emanuele Maniscalco, Francesco Bigoni & Mark Solborg
Label: ILK Music
Catalog #: ILK338
Location: Copenhagen, Denmark
Release Date: June 3, 2022
Media: vinyl, compact disc or digital download
bandcamp.com entry
discogs.com entry
Let us begin with a disclaimer lest there be any misunderstanding of the purpose of this review. To be clear, the staff of the Poison Pie Publishing House places no significance on their musical opinions. To the contrary, we believe that music needs no external affirmation, be it critical or commercial. A work stands on it own and the praise of a positive review or the criticism of a negative one is merely an individual response to the piece, at best peripherally related to the work and indebted at least as much to the disposition, situation and history of the reviewer as to the music.
We have nothing profound to say about this album. We were drawn to explore Canto because several other albums involving Italian pianist Emanuele Maniscalco continue to resonate with us. (See the links to reviews of the Il Sogno albums and Høbama below.) We had some passing familiarity with the reed playing of Francesco Bigoni from Spirit of the Hive. Based on these signals, we deemed the release of Canto too promising an opportunity to ignore.
We dream of writing a universal review that applies equally well to any album that we might consider reviewing. Once read no other review needs reading. This review at hand is not the ideal, universal review but it moves in such a direction because it begins with an admission of its uselessness! Like so many others, we have reached a point where we no longer regard utility as a virtue.
This patient and undemanding music pleased us. We felt no need to describe it, only to share with visitors who wander through the site that we found a moment to enjoy its leisurely melodies. Those of similar disposition might be encouraged to seek out this album or others by these musicians to see if they too discover a music amenable to such idle reminiscing.
personnel:
- Emanuele Maniscalco (piano, keyboards, Rhodes)
- Francesco Bigoni (tenor saxophone, alto saxophone, clarinet)
- Mark Solborg (guitar, electronics, devices) - musician's website
