Maniscalco/Bigoni/Solborg: CANTO

With a buzz in our ears, we sing our way through the cantos of a new book. Shout – or whisper – our musical poetry into a spacious realm of warm analog keyboards, strings and reeds, flooded with subtle electronics, granular processing and microtonality. Interwoven contemporary chamber music tableaux are carefully folded into a unique multilayered electroacoustic blend – grandiose and yet intimate.

Maniscalco/Bigoni/Solborg navigate freely with and around original materials. This is about improvising as a unit while honouring or challenging the idea of a song. To instantly react to each other and create chamber-like music with a strong presence, that bridges melodic poetry and contemporary abstraction. This music does not care about genre or style. It is essentially about musical conversation and made for ears interested in dialogue.

The Danish/Italian trio has worked their musical approach intensely for a decade. The results can be heard on its two prior albums, praised internationally by audience and critics. With CANTO, the three musicians bring their work and musical approach into a new crisp territory.

Catalogue #: ILK338CD
Release date: 03-06-2022

Line-up:
- Francesco Bigoni: Tenor and alto saxophone, clarinet
- Emanuele Maniscalco: Rhodes, piano, keyboards
- Mark Solborg: guitar, devices and electronics

Reviews

“The soundscape is characterized by sensitivity and intelligence. A Masterpiece of true beauty.."
– Bjarne Søltoft, Jazzspecial.dk

"A dialogue in which the dividing line between written and improvised music becomes thin, as imperceptible as the border between acoustic and electronic sounds, in the intertwining of three instrumental voices whose timbres and expressions are masterfully woven"
– Giacomo Baroni, Il Giornale di Brescia

"Strings, synths, reeds and poetry."
– E. Zup., Bresciaoggi

"A blend that finds itself into eletronic inserts, restrained but weighty. It does not give up a certain immediacy while pursuing a strongly personal stylistic exploration"
– Alessandro Rigolli, La Gazzetta di Parma

"They pursue their own unique hymn [...] and a view that can lead to a unique sense of mystery and serenity."
– JazzProbe 

"A slightly addictive introduction makes you want to hit the “repeat” button, but there is even more to experience, such as the dark atmosphere in “Faggio”"
– Georges Tonla Briquet, Jazz’halo

"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 [...] Such profound and rare beauty is achieved only when kindred spirits meet and keep refining their poetic agenda."
– Eyal Hareuveni, Salt Peanuts

"The trio Maniscalco/Bigoni/Solborg has a character that developed over the past ten years. But it doesn’t mean that the three musicians stopped. They are still able to expand their musical universe and invite us in."
− Jan Granlie, Salt Peanuts

"This seems to be the three musicians’ most direct goal: proposing a vital experience, making music that can’t forget sound (in its acoustic properties) and listening, both internal (oneself) and external (the others) [...] This music, albeit essential, is extremely rich and adorned, has refined structural elements and occupies the sonic space in a way that is as discreet as it is persistent."
– Sandro Cerini, Musica Jazz

"Quiet, sheer and spacious music that inhabits mental spaces that are clear from formal obstacles."
– Elio Bussolino, Rockerilla

"This music here is an electric current. Its sound is subdued, but its presence radiates a power that’s as likely to deliver a gentle shock as brighten the room with its warmth. The trio of pianist Emanuele Maniscalco, guitarist Mark Solborg, and woodwind instrumentalist Francesco Bigoni have previously displayed a talent for amplifying whispers for impact. Their latest keeps to that winning formula."
– Dave Sumner, The Best Jazz on Bandcamp: June 2022

"A sort of chamber jazz that really “sings”, although it is not bothered by melodic effects. Microtonality, unisons, mysterious crackles, an amazed but attentive look that fascinates."
– Guido Festinese, Alias