The regulars at the Barga Jazz Club were willing participants in an exciting musical experiment and the birth of a new group this evening as the members of 3motion shared their new project with Barga. All are experienced musicians – the drummer Walter Paoli an unknown figure here in the Barga Jazz Club but Stefano Onorati on keyboards and Roberto Cecchetto on guitar long-time members of the Barga Jazz Orchestra and well-known on the musical landscape but this evening they were all in uncharted area as they took the audience (and themselves) on a musical voyage of discovery. A blending of traditional instruments, keyboards, guitar and drums with digital sampling equipment brought the jazz club right up into the modern digital age.
Each time they go on stage the music that they perform can only be a one off performance that cannot be repeated as the chance happenings inside each sample push the music in a direction that cannot be foretold. Each musician is “feedbacking” off the overall sound and modifying their own sound accordingly. When it works – it works wonderfully. (click on the link at the bottom of this article to hear a short excerpt) When it fails – it fails abysmally.
This evening there were some wonderful moments where the overall sound was creating harmonics that undulated over the top of the sound much like Buddhist chanting. Stefano Onorati latched on to this straightaway and started playing a series of repetitively notes on the keyboard augmenting and increasing the modulating harmonic.
During the second half of their set Andrea Guzzoletti join them on stage with his golden trumpet and stitched an added grouping of notes to the already complex aural tapestry.
All three musicians, Andrea, Roberto and Stefano had all worked with the jazz composer and trumpeter Kenny Wheeler during the Barga Jazz Festival 2007 (article here) and although his influence was probably not that discernible in the overall sound produced by 3motion this evening, it certainly was when it came to naming the pieces played. They started the concert playing a piece called Barga1, this was followed by Barga2, then Barga3 and so on.
A few words should also really be written about the splendid guitar work from Roberto Cecchetto taking the sound into places where few guitars have gone before and the new face to the Barga Jazz Club – Walter Paoli who produced shimmering layers of rhythm for the other musicians to work off but with a big smile across his face would mischievously throw in the odd time signature to keep them, and us, on our toes just when we thought we had it all sussed.
It’s not a word often used to describe the sound produced by a drummer but Walters’ performance this evening bordered on almost sensual (maybe it had something to do with him playing in bare feet, who knows?)
So to sum up, a great concert, wonderful entertainment flawed in parts but exciting, interesting, forward looking, hopeful and with huge potential.
Spotted in the audience this evening was one of Italy’s up and coming DJs – Luca Bacchetti. ( interview with Luca Bacchetti here)
He too is no stranger to the art of mixing and sampling sounds although generally he DJs in such clubs to be found in New York, Rome, London and Istanbul but maybe a collaboration with the 3motion is in the offing? Who knows?.
Roberto Cecchetto – chitarra | Stefano Onorati – pianoforte | Walter Paoli – batteria | + special guest; Andrea Guzzoletti – trumpet
Click on the link below to hear (in lo-lo-fi) a small part of the concert as the 3motion play Barga 1
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