1.Moon 		04:34
2.Seta		 04:12
3.L'impressionista		 04:08
4.Kasparov - Karpov		 04:21
5.Improvviso 		05:27
6.Lilium		 02:28
7.Olio su tela 		03:59
8.Gea 		05:19
9.La stanza 		04:00
10.Aurora Boreale 		04:11 

Fabrizio Bosso - trumpet
Mauro Ottolini - trombone
Laura Masotto - violin
Eleuteria Arena - cello
Stefania Avolio - piano
Marco Mazzi - viola
Bruce Turri - drum

If you are in search of neoclassical that manages to be as lively as it is steeped in a very modern sense of ambience and ellipsis, Italian composer and virtuoso pianist Lorenzo Masotto is surely going to be your go-to guy. On Masotto’s debut solo recording Seta (Silk), published by Rome’s Alfa Music in February, the already highly accomplished graduate of both the Conservatorio Di Musica F. E. Dall’Abaco Verona and the Hochschule für Musik Franz Liszt in Weimar has shot for an engaging and eclectic take on modern art music which incorporates electronic textures in addition to accompaniment by Fabrizio Bosso on trumpet, Mauro Ottolini on trombone, Laura Masotto, Eleuteria Arena, and Marco Mazzi on strings; Stefania Avolio as second pianist, and Bruce Turri on drums. Seta is humble and dignified, and subsequently exactly the kind of thing one looks for with fusion-type works in this vein!

The sensibility here is bustling with activity and dynamic, yet also very sensitive and textural. Masotto’s languid, floating melodies have an impressionistic affect to them, but then, there is also something here almost akin to George Gershwin in wryly nostalgic reveries like “Improvviso” and “Olio su tela”. The lush, melodic, vaguely cinematic, yet never too sentimental or digressive, textures of these pieces often remind me of Ryuichi Sakamoto, a favorite of mine, and his idiosynchratic kind of emotive impressionism, and like Sakamoto, Masotto is open to finding a place for electronics in his pieces. On that note, I was particularly drawn into the tense, lovely “Gea” for the sidereal pulse undercutting Masotto’s hurried piano melody– well-constructed stuff. Totally criminally underrated…I hope to hear more great things from Lorenzo in years to come. ---foreignaccentspdx.wordpress.com

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1.Window 	04:36 
2.Doors 	04:26
3.Chopin plays on the radio	 04:37
4.Frattali 	04:54
5.Trees 	05:23
6.Like a Jackson Pollock painting	 05:16
7.Cera 		06:09
8.Return 	04:33
9.Fragile 	04:48
10.Nightcall 	05:15 

"I just want to say that" White Materials " is my fourth album and it's a work that almost completely dissociates from the kind of writing I used up to now. For this reason, according to the stylistic choices of compositions and sound combinations that you will find in "White Materials", I decided to produce this album completely by myself, so that you can listen to it without reference to labels or music genres.

I composed, recorded, mixed and mastered this work in my home studio. At the voice in "Window", "Cera" and "Frattali" my wife Stefania Avolio and at the violin in "Trees","Doors" and "Nightcall" my sister Laura Masotto. All electronic elements have been processed in the modular system of my dear friend Matteo Bogoni. The album packaging is entirely handmade. ---lorenzomasotto.bandcamp.com

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1 	Arctic Summer 	3:18
2 	Space Flowers 	4:23
3 	Drone 	4:57
4 	My Great-Grandmother Lived In The Mountains 	3:58
5 	A Tree In The Snow 	3:18
6 	Geyser 	4:04
7 	When The City Sleeps 	3:32
8 	Travelling To Alaska 	4:04
9 	Repeater 	4:56
10 	Aeolian Processes 	4:44
11 	Desert 	5:21

Lorenzo Masotto - Solo Performer

“By the moment my hands touch the piano and I begin to compose, my conscience starts a journey, leaving my body. During its wandering shows me pictures of the places it encounters, creating a sort of connection between my unconscious and my fingers. The colors, the landscapes, the faces of the people it photographs along the way are so clear in my mind to allow me to portray those images, using only the sound that a piano can paint.”

So says Italian pianist Lorenzo Masotto who’s most recent release “Aeolian Processes” came out on the Russian label Dronarivm on March 17. This follows releases on labels such as Preserved Sound and Alfa music.

Aeolian Processes is defined as “pertaining to wind activity in the geology and weather and specifically the wind’s ability to shape the Earth (or other planets)“

Although I have not heard Masotto’s two previous releases and cannot compare this release to them (nor ascertain if the music matches the title of the album), what is striking is the use of electronic elements and instrumentation that compliment the solo piano. Such is the skill that this could sit comfortably in the Erased Tapes catalog.

Lorenzo who plays in the prog/post-rock band La Machere di Clara while also making music for film while teaching piano and composition and directing an all male choir. On “Aeolian Processes” he also performs all the music with the deftness of Iran’s Porya Hatami great work in the mastering process.

The album starts with “Arctic Summer” which starts with Piano and a rich backing of layered electronics, looped material, some type of strings that builds as the track progresses and gives the listener a taste of what to expect. This is not just a solo Modern Classical release. The electronic element is brought to the fore on “Space Flowers” with it being a more central element that the piano compliments rather than vice versa. The elements come and go and serve to highlight each other. “Drone” adds an almost Jazz/ almost Breakbeat percussion into the mix with multi layering of piano, electronics and some indistinguishable vocal parts and is a true highlight of the release.

His work in the previously mentioned Prog/Post-Rock band seems to influence tracks like “My Great Grandmother Lived in the Mountains” (which reminds me of early Pivot), “Aeolian Processes” and “Repeater” reminding me of film work like the Exorcist theme or if Tangerine Dream did their soundtrack work on piano as opposed to a wall of synths. ---driftingalmostfalling.wordpress.com

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