Connecting The Dots
ABC, 2023
8/10
An Italian-Australian composer and singer who is native to Florence, Ilaria Crociani brings along Paul Grabowsky, Jonh Griffiths, Mirko Guerrini, Geoff Hughes, Ben Robertson and Niko Schauble for these 9 diverse and well thought out tracks.
“Mary Lou” opens the listen with Grabowsky’ warm piano and Guerrini’s soothing clarinet that complements Crociani’ gorgeous voice, and “The Angel Of The Bush” follows with Schauble’s skilled drumming and Robertson’s precise bass making for a mesmerizing climate.
In the middle, “Musicali Affetti” emits much beauty thanks to the poetic singing and Hughes’ subtle but effective guitar, while “Eat My Dust” builds into a melodic, cultured album highlight that showcases a lively rhythm section.
Further along, the more rock focused “The Author Is Dead” illuminates Guerrini’s bright sax and the buzzing guitar amid Crociani’s vocal acrobatics, and “Stones Of Fire” exits with a dreamy demeanor of flowing, powerful jazz song craft that will always be admirable.
Crociani’s voice is quite memorable, and the company she keeps makes for both energetic and calm moments of universally enjoyable jazz ideas.
Travels well with: Roberto Occhipinti- The Next Step; Jan Cronin- I Thought About You