Press Reviews

Interviews

Review of Multitude on Jazzitalia and interview about Night Dancers

 

By Fabrizio Ciccarelli

Paolo Lattanzi’s quintet, particularly active in the areas of Boston and New York, gives in “Night Dancers” a convincing impression, proposing ten original compositions excellently arranged by the inspired inventiveness of the drummer end performed with an innovative approach, intelligently close to the post hardbop jazz tradition.

The creative ability of each band member emerges from a certain flattening that the blue notes have been suffering lately: what strikes mainly is the originality, both in the compositions and the performance, the ability to create wide and clear atmospheres, and a never overbearing personality with which the lesson of Coltrane and Holland is renewed.

The album is characterized by a quite original instrumental timber: expressive and solid especially when each member is free to show his personal soloing talent. At times the sound resembles that of some excellent ECM productions some others it is defined by a fleeting, poetic, introspective and nocturne pathos.

In the following interview Paolo’s words will be more significant than my own. <Read More>

Interview, plus reviews of Multitude and Night Dancers on Kathodik WebzinePublished 01/03/2013 by Marco Paolucci

Kathodik came across Paolo Lattanzi for the first time a few years ago when the young Italian drummer published his debut release ‘Night Dancers’. An itinerant musician who has been living in the United States for quite some time, he is branching out from a modern jazz base in the search for new inspirations that the country – and especially New York City – offers to anyone who is willing to dive into that “melting pot”. I recently ran into him, which resulted in the sixth installment of ‘Chi fa da sé fa per tre’. I asked some routine questions to which Paolo Lattanzi provided some refreshingly honest and thoughtful answers. Here is what happened. <Read More>

Reviews

Paolo Lattanzi's Multitude by The Characteristic Pitches featuring Robin Eubanks

'Multitude' by the Characteristic Pitches feat. Robin Eubanks

Musica Jazz Review of Multitude Disc of the month

 

By Piacentino

Disc of the Month 

Born in Macerata in 1977 and relocated to Boston a decade ago, Lattanzi presents us with one of the greatest CDs of these years. One can’t help but admiring the fullness of the ensemble playing that he was able to create thanks to his writing skills, developed during his years at Berklee in Boston.

In general song titles are suggestion, but here they often seem to be philosophical concepts, which confirms that Lattanzi’s is above all a “thought” opus, where forms are ideated and developed. <Read More>

Multitude review on Jazziz

 

By Philip Booth

For his second recording as leader – and his first with Boston-based Characteristic Pitches quintet – drummer Paolo Lattanzi penned an album full of forward-leaning compositions that are uniformly appealing and often exhilarating. Multitude’s 11 tunes – seven of which feature guest trombonist Robin Eubanks – are frequently surprising, too, in terms of how Lattanzi uses tonal colors and inventively manipulates chordal rhythmic patterns. The group’s sound and modus operandi are tough to nail down – and that’s a good thing.
<Read More>

Multitude, review on Cadence magazine

 

By David Dupont

Everything is in place for this session by a collective (Characteristic Pitches) of young players — with ringer trombonist Robin Eubanks sitting in on most numbers — playing a set of originals by drummer Lattanzi. Those compositions with ephemeral melodies provide intriguing frameworks to challenge the players, and everyone rises to the challenge, though it’s no surprise that Eubanks tends to rise a little higher with his robust style where even the spaces between notes resonate. But trumpeter Rosenthal, alto saxophonist Stone and pianist Kordis also fully engage the essence of Lattanzi’s work. And the rhythm section with bassist Loughman flows through the tunes’ structures and responds to the soloists. <Read More>

Review of Multitude on Jazzit

 

Paolo Lattanzi, born in Macerata but now resident in Boston for a decade, unites — under the name of Characteristic Pitches — a group of musicians active in the Bostonian scene. This is Lattanzi’s second release as leader, composer and arranger and it presents the added value of featuring acclaimed trombonist Robin Eubanks who performs in eight of the eleven tracks in the recording. Mr. Eubanks mingles with the group and provides a perfect performance and an astounding interpretation of the leader’s scores. Thanks to the skillfully crafted arrangements, the sextet sounds impressively large – almost orchestral – and the compositions are complex and full of surprises, rich of ever-changing atmospheres, timbres and colors that redefine the language of the best mainstream jazz.

View PDF of original.

Review of Multitude on Jazz Convention

 

By Fabio Ciminiera

If there ever was a perfect name to represent this recording, ‘Multitude’ is certainly the right one: it sums up in one word the disc’s nearly eighty minutes of music and its wide outlook on jazz. In these eleven tunes, Paolo Lattanzi maintains focus on the ensemble sound, and to the big picture, using a variety of elements: compositional style, orchestral writing, a general sense of balance and attention to the arrangements.

The outcome is, to some degree, a synthesis of various seasons of jazz: it seems that Lattanzi is drawing a line that connects the blues, swing, elements of free jazz, different interpretations of bop, orchestrations, concepts introduced by certain composers and fusion articulation. A post modernist take on it all, if you will, where the tradition is embraced and re-elaborated to develop a new way of thinking. The vehicle that Lattanzi uses to reach this goal is an acoustic sextet ready to take on a “multitude” of stimulations — a line-up in many ways similar to Art Blakey’s famous Jazz Messengers. <Read More>

Review of Multitude on All About Jazz

By Vincenzo Roggero

After a fine debut with Night Dancers, Paolo Lattanzi completely changes his quintet, drops all the “electric” elements of that disc and scores big time by gaining the backing of trombone superstar Robin Eubanks on seven of the eleven tracks in the recording. Wondering what the result is? Almost eighty minutes of solid acoustic modern-jazz in which the talents of all the musicians involved are put to the service of the common good. This recording confirms that the leader, born in Macerata (but a long time resident in Boston) does excel both as composer and arranger. <Read More>

Multitude review on Jazzrytmit

 

By JKI

The band Characteristic Pitches, lead by Paolo Lattanzi, is a group of top Boston’s musicians specialized in contemporary music and united by the same musical views. Their aim is to produce music that encourages the listener to think and be engaged. “Modern Jazz” is a style that, as such, allows for a fair amount of diverse ideas: different musicians tend to present their own interpretation of this music when delivering their musical message.

Another way to call this band’s music could be “modern western music”. Lattanzi has sought to create a cohesive group of young musicians where every member is part of a whole. This intent is in part shown by his choice to not feature himself in the group’s name. The band’s name by itself in fact leads to a certain kind of reasoning: “musicians that work together in the same direction to produce creative ideas and develop new goals, seeking originality.” <Read More>

Review of Multitude on Music Boom

 

Paolo Lattanzi’s new work, published three years after the excellent Night Dancers, is released again by Silta Records: Giorgio Dini’s daring label.

The Italian drummer, now relocated to the US, put together a new group of musicians who come from that immense forge of talents that is America. Among them we find special guest trombonist Robin Eubanks, a regular member of Dave Holland’s quintet.

The level here is very high, both in terms of solos and compositions, the latter all written by the leader. Lattanzi has an innate maturity in guiding the group, in developing the dynamics of the solos and of the ensemble sections, in choosing the “colors” and the musicians who perform pieces that seem tailored around their individual personalities, discovered track after track. Excellent, for instance, is trumpeter Daniel Rosenthal’s illuminating “The Transversality of Thoughts”; he is just one of these outstanding musicians working in the role of sidemen, wisely led by “Lattanzi’s sticks”! Alongside the aforementioned, we find Rick Stone at the alto sax, pianist Lefteris Kordis and bassist Greg Loughman. <Read More>

Review of Multitude on Jazzitalia

 

By Andrea Valiante and Fabrizio Ciccarelli

Three years after the release of ‘Night Dancers’ (Silta Records – 2006), Italian drummer and composer Paolo Lattanzi (who has been living in Boston for years) continues his journey on this record label with a new interesting project: a high level live-in-the-studio that travels on the same philosophical wavelength of Giorgio Dini’s label.

In this recording, the drummer is once again bandleader as well as composer and arranger of all the tunes. The disc boasts the prestigious participation of trombonist Robin Eubanks who appears in seven of the eleven tracks. He is among the best trombonists on the American scene and a member of Dave Holland Quintet. <Read More>

Review of Multitude on Kathodik Webzine

 

February 27th 2010
by Paolo Cruciani
4 stars

Characteristic Pitches is the name of the new group created by Italian born drummer and composer Paolo Lattanzi, who relocated to the States years ago. Here at Kathodik we have already talked about his excellent debut album “Night Dancers” (2006) and at that time we wished for more to come; well, his next recording has arrived, and it does meet our expectations. With a new sextet enhanced for the occasion by the participation of Robin Eubanks, who plays in seven of the eleven tracks, Lattanzi (composer of all the tunes) presents us with a new disc, ‘Multitude’, which sounds at the same time forceful, elegant and sophisticated.

Besides the leader on drums and Eubanks on trombone, the group is composed of remarkable musicians, namely, trumpeter Daniel Rosenthal, saxophonist Rick Stone, pianist Lefteris Kordis and bassist Greg Loughman. Placing the sound of this album in a precise category is a hard task: one may define it modern mainstream (mainstream, I will never get tired to say, NEVER lets you down) with various facets and excursions. <Read More>

Review of Multitude on Suono Magazine

 

By Pier Luigi Zanzi
Artistic Vote: 8
Technical Vote: 8

Noteworthy new work from drummer Paolo Lattanzi, Italian by birth but a long time US resident, whom put together – and lets walk on its own – a valuable musical project that sounds good in several ways. The music and the compositional efforts were conceived for quintet, but the album features the addition of acclaimed trombonist Robin Eubanks; the guest may be known by many for his works with Dave Holland (and most probably appreciated for it).

The other musicians (Daniel Rosenthal on trumpet, Rick Stone on the alto sax, Lefteris Kordis on piano and Greg Loughman on double bass) provide a significant contribution, allowing the music to sound cohesive and solid, formal and elegant but also spontaneous and vigorous. <Read More>

Review of Multitude on Il Carlino

 

An illustrious guest in Paolo Lattanzi’s new recording.

A new cd for Paolo Lattanzi, a young Macerata-born drummer and composer relocated to the Usa. After his debut with “Night Dancers” the musician presents “Multitude” with the “Characteristic Pitches”, introducing a new group and an original repertoire. The captivating and creative arrangements emphasize the improvisational capabilities of this sextet, enriched by the participation of renowned trombonist Robin Eubanks, known by many as a member of Dave Holland’s quintet.

«The improvisation – explains Lattanzi – doesn’t always adopt the same role in jazz. Depending on the style its importance can vary significantly. In some cases the theme is stated briefly and the improvisation covers the main role. I think that the composition should have a strong character and that the improvisation, on the contrary, should be as spontaneous as possible. Robin Eubanks’ participation was an exciting turn that took place only a couple of weeks prior to the recording date». Recorded in Boston, “Multitude” is published by Silta Records and distributed by Ird.

View PDF of original.

Review of Multitude on Sands-zine

 

After a first exciting high from leadership with “Night Dancers”, the globetrotter known as Paolo Lattanzi is back with a new batch of shimmering luxurious modern jazz tunes.
In “Multitude” there is a clear new interest in a collective effort, starting with the choice not to credit the group’s name personally but with the decision to call it Characteristic Pitches, a statement that reflects the equal musical interaction of the musicians.

Made a step away from the concept of centralized identities, the new recording expands the beloved quintet setting with the inclusion in seven of the eleven tracks of guest trombonist Robin Eubanks, a specialist of the mainstream, aesthetically at the heights of Phil Ranelin. The core group is formed by the dynamic Daniel Rosenthal at the trumpet, the “Dolphi-an” Rick Stone on the alto sax, the multi faceted pianist Lefteris Kordis, and the groovy Greg Loughman on bass and Paolo Lattanzi on the drums. Since the guitar and organ are not featured here, the smoky-bluesy, electric, fusion-ish sounds of the first album are replaced by a completely acoustic setting. <Read More>

Reviews

'Night Dancers' by the Paolo Lattanzi Group

Review of Night Dancers on Jazzit

 

An Italian label, musicians from four European nations but of American education and experiences and jazz in its modern mainstream variation as Esperanto: this all constitutes the global alchemy in which Paolo Lattanzi Group’s first album is rooted. The five members share a solid technique and control of the languages (not for nothing they all studied at Berklee College of Music in Boston) and play without overdoing, always aware of their possibilities, moving agilely and effortlessly over different rhythmic and harmonic grounds. <Read More>

Review of Multitude and Night Dancers on Jazz Convention

 

By Fabio Ciminiera

Night Dancers is an interesting mix of tradition, groove and experimentation. First of all the setup of the group: an ensemble composed of musicians coming from different geographic backgrounds, but all characterized by a significant linguistic and instrumental openness; then the combination of the soloing instruments, sax, guitar and piano, to which other colors are added by the organ and the fretless guitar. Night Dancers meets the tradition filtering it through contingent and necessary elements.

The quintet gets together in America where the five individuals studied at the Berklee College of Music. You can recognize each different language, five styles that blend together with the language of the tradition, as it developed in the US. The intention to unify the swing with a more aggressive rhythmic idea is clearly hearable: an intent to create a groove by picking rhythmic concepts from different sources. On this purpose the contribution of bassist Marco Panascia is significant, on upright and electric basses, shifting from pulsating to lyrical depending on the circumstances. <Read More>

Review of Night Dancers on JazzReview

 

By Dr. Ana Isabel Ordonez

Night Dancers is all about swing, soul and celebration. The compositions aren’t standard quotations but gems of bold creation. Chording with some fine cats: Nikolay Moiseenko (alto & soprano saxophones), Marco Panascia (acoustic & electric basses), Aurelien Budynek (nylon string, & electric & fretless guitars) and Pau Terol (piano & organ), Lattanzi has crafted ten opuses that come up to an amazing firepower with this band combination. A melodic pace directs the flow and imparts a musical purpose, yet this quintet unties their muse. Paolo Lattanzi’s compositions reflect an established process, forsaking a large knowledge for a more strongly knit traditional set with a few extra wonders. <Read More>

Review of Night Dancers

 

By Ian Mann

This latest release from the excellent Italian label Silta features the thoughtful compositions of drummer Paolo Lattanzi in a selection of intriguing original pieces. The album was recorded in Massachusetts and I suspect that Lattanzi is now actually based in the USA and is/was a student at the famous Berklee College of Music in Boston.

Lattanzi leads a quintet featuring Nikolay Moiseenko on alto and soprano saxes, Aurelien Budynek on guitar, Pau Terol on piano and organ plus Marco Panascia on acoustic and electric basses. There is some fine ensemble playing from the group throughout the album and some fine soloing from the individual members in a well-balanced programme. <Read More>

Review of Multitude and Night Dancers on All About Jazz

 

Night Dancers
Paolo Lattanzi Group | Silta Records
By Vincenzo Roggero

A French guitarist, a Russian saxophonist, a Spanish pianist, an Italian bassist as well as the drummer and leader, a day of recording at the famed Rear Window Studio in Brookline, the attention of Silta Records and there you have Night Dancers, first release of Paolo Lattanzi Group. Wonders of the recording industry globalization? Not at all, it is simply the power of Berklee College of Music, the legendary sanctuary of jazz which witnessed the meeting of these musicians but, most of all, their desire to leave a sign of the artistically happy moment they are living at such an early stage of their career. <Read More>

CoolClub Night Dancers review

 

Paolo Lattanzi Group
Night Dancers
Silta Records
Jazz / **** (4 stars out of 5)

By Gianpaolo Chiriacò

Smooth, broad, focused as well as carefree, rich of colors and evocations: the repertoire in Night Dancers offers a complete panoramic view of all the possible variants of the theme “melodic line plus improvisation”. Paolo Lattanzi’s group is young (although you wouldn’t expect it), polyglot, rampant (in a good way), omnivorous. <Read More>

One Way Magazine, Night Dancers Review

Paolo Lattanzi Group
Night Dancers (CD Silta)

Italian drummer Paolo Lattanzi leads his sophisticated ensemble through focused, ornately performed original compositions. The recording quality on Night Dancers is very impressive and unlike some percussionist bandleaders, Lattanzi gives the quintet much space to explore. The percolating “In a Dark Room” shows his strength at laying down uptempo grooves, while “14/2” features beautiful piano chord clusters.

View PDF of original.

Multitude and Night Dancers reviews on Jazzrytmit

 

This CD is a production of European musicians who met in the US, where this recording has been made. Lattanzi’s (29) colleagues obviously attended Berklee School, but he also would like to inform us that the pictures of the booklet have been taken at MIT.

The music has been composed by the leader himself, and should not be underestimated. We hear pulsing melodies, but if on one side the support from the band is bringing us to consider the arrangements less important, on the other the rhythms’ diversification is an advantage. “14/2” seems to remind a Finnish melody. There’s a reminiscence of the acoustic atmosphere of the Jazz tradition and a sound that recalls the summer at Jyvaskyla in 1969, meaning: Sarmanto, Aaltonen, Pethman… <Read More>

Review of Multitude and Night Dancers on Music Boom

 

by Cosimo Parisi
Vote: 4 out of 5

The first release of this young band led by Italian drummer Paolo Lattanzi is a real impressive one, with a surprising force wave, thanks to the maturity of the artistic concept fixed on the disc. It is a multinational group in which together with Italian bassist Marco Panascia we find the Spaniard Pau Terol on piano and keys, French Aurelien Budynek on guitars and Russian Nikolay Moiseenko on alto and soprano saxophones. They all come from the Berklee College of Music in Boston and show, as if it was needed, that it is possible to achieve great levels only by studying. <Read More>

Review of Night Dancers on Il Messaggero Newspaper

 

Wednesday 22 November 2006
Paolo Lattanzi, Jazz star in the States
By MAURO MONTALI

Macerata

«FORTUNATELY my family supported me, without them I wouldn’t have left Macerata». On the contrary, Paolo Lattanzi, 29 years old, is now in Boston , United States, where he leads his “Paolo Lattanzi Group” joined by other four musicians of different nationalities. The challenge was won altogether. Paolo is about to become an internationally acclaimed jazz artist. He and his group have recorded a CD called Night Dancers, published by “Silta Records”, which in just weeks will be presented live in all America’s major cities. <Read More>

Review of Multitude and Night Dancers on Kathodik Webzine

 

November 8th 2007
By Paolo Cruciani
4 stars

‘Night Dancers’ is the debut album of a multinational quintet lead by Italian drummer Paolo Lattanzi, whom, besides being an excellent instrumentalist, is the composer of all the tunes in the recording. His band mates are Italian bass player Marco Panascia, Spaniard pianist Pau Terol, French guitarist Aurelien Budynek and Russian saxophonist Nikolay Moiseenko. All these musicians are alumni of the prestigious Berklee School of Music, which explains their absolute academic preparation and proficiency on their instruments.

The recording begins with Cicerchì’s Wanderlust. After a bass intro, the main theme is exposed by the sax. Unexpectedly, it is not the horn to take the lead with the first improvised episode of the album, instead, it is the double bass to step forward and engage in a fluid and cohesive solo, supported by a “pointillist” piano. This is doubtlessly an unusual decision deliberately made to strike the listener’s attention. <Read More>

Night Dancers review on Giorgio Coppola

 

Paolo Lattanzi is a young musician from Macerata (class 1977), who has moved to Boston a few years ago and obtained a diploma at Berklee majoring in Parformance.

A gifted, particularly versatile drummer, he studied arranging and the ten tunes in the CD are all written by himself. This is an interesting disc for several reasons. First of all it allows us to discover this talented musician from our country, which wouldn’t be as easy since he lives in the USA. Secondly with this we get to know other very good and exciting musicians. Starting with Nikolay Moissenko (soprano and alto saxes – I prefer him on the latter), guitarist Aurelien Budynek (beautiful solo on “24/2”), pianist Pau Terol and bassist Marco Panascia. <Read More>

Reviews of Multitude and Night Dancers on Sands-zine

 

By Sergio Eletto

By choosing “Night Dancers” drummer/composer Paolo Lattanzi defines at best the title, or better, the “spirit” of his first work as leader, a full length album blossomed after years in the ranks, from multi-colored experiences (musical and not) that led him to the States.

Lattanzi’s quintet, appositely fashioned for this project, lets its soul loose, releasing joy, meaningful melodies, ingeniousness and technical skills in a colorful mixture rooted in the tradition as much as in modernism, stylish jazz that sparkles like champagne. The quintet begins its recording journey in the fall of ’05. A symmetrical balance act between melody and avant-garde that features for the first time together saxophonist Nikolay Moiseenko – alto and soprano – guitarist Aurelien Budynek, pianist Pau Terol– piano and organ – bassist Marco Panascia – on both the electric and acoustic spheres – and Paolo Lattanzi, featured not only as the drummer, but also engaged at all levels in the complex role of director of the dances… mature and sharp, brightly sweet and infinitely poetic. <Read More>

Night Dancers review on Suono Magazine

 

By Federico Scoppio | Music Quality 7.5/10 | Technique: 8/10

Speaking of brain drain in Italy, it is a pity for us, but it seems safe to say that it is good for him: Paolo Lattanzi, class 1977 from Macerata, operates in Boston. He presents a quintet that runs in that city of the United States, whose jazz scene we Italians don’t know much about. It looks like it is quite lively and busy, though, or that’s what is suggested by Lattanzi’s quintet: Nikolay Moiseenko on alto and soprano saxes, Aurelien Budynek on guitars, Pau Terol on piano and organ and Marco Panascia on upright and electric basses. An excellent instrumental conversation rich in melodic flavors dominates their sound while the solid and imaginative rhythms, at times sweet and swinging, at times harsh and rocking, produce an intense feeling. <Read More>