High on a list of ideal marriages between sonically compatible jazz musicians would have to be the liaison of Italian trumpeter Fulvio Sigurtà and the inimitable bass guitarist Steve Swallow. Sigurtà and his regular guitar partner Federico Casagrande wrote this music with Swallow in mind, and the American was, happily, up for it. The trumpeter’s silvery sound is a marvel, a simmering brew of Miles Davis, Kenny Wheeler, Scando-ambiance and Mediterranean warmth, and Swallow’s unhurried basslines and velvety sound float around it with a lazy grace.
The music is often pensive, but Sigurtà’s capacity to be penetrating without turning up the volume injects a deceptive intensity. His slow vibrato shimmers through the beautifully woven title track, his low tone merges into Swallow’s and his double-time agility is Wheeler-like on the brisker Sorrows and Joys of a Lamb – Wheeler’s coolly accumulating thematic method seems to hover behind the gently sensual Marmotte. Morricone’s Nuovo Cinema Paradiso finds Sigurtà purring over Casagrande’s jangly acoustic-guitar chords, and the Latin dance of Loft emits remarkable bounce considering Sigurtà’s and Casagrande’s instincts for understatement.
