Album of the day: Paolo Birro, “Capo D’Astro”

Paul Birro
“Capo D’Astro” (Cd Velut Luna CVLD 01600)

On these August evenings, give yourself a treat by listening to a great artist whose only flaw is being too shy to raise his voice and assert himself decisively in the overcrowded world of Italian jazz.
All musicians in the field know that Paolo Birro is one of the very few pianists able to compete with the American masters present at our festivals and also with those of the historical past (many have noticed this: among these Buddy De Franco, Lee Konitz, Johnny Griffin, Art Farmer, Enrico Rava, just to name a few with whom he has collaborated); they also know that Paolo is very reticent to propose himself alone, so much so that “Capo D’Astro” (1998) remains to this day one of only two albums entirely under his name, while musicians less musically gifted than him but much more astute in marketing themselves

They bombard the shops with engravings that are as frequent as they are useless.

Paolo is in no hurry and looks at his work in a hypercritical way even if every time he puts his hands on the keyboard he manages to
enchant anyone who is lucky enough to listen to him. Behind his gentle appearance lies a very determined musical personality, who manages to make different performing traditions coexist, from Horace Silver to Bill Evans, transforming them through a pianism of great brilliance and transparency.
The harmonic knowledge that Birro demonstrates in all his performances allows him to explore every page to its most remote corners, always managing to reveal new details that sound fresh and innovative while remaining within the great jazz piano tradition, making him spiritually close to artists such as Brad Mehldau and Fred Hersch (even if Paolo is capable of reaching heights of lyricism even greater than these two great musicians).

Sitting at a piano that belonged to Arthur Rubinstein, Birro gives life to wonderful reinterpretations of great standards such as “How Deep Is the Ocean”, “But Not For Me”, “It’s You Or No One”, “All the Things You Are” alternating them with pages of his own compositions simply entitled “Edit” or “Variation”, which transform the suggestions of the original songs into
improvisational paths rich in poetry, endowed with a thousand chromatic iridescences, which can be enjoyed and listened to a thousand times.

Carlo Boccadoro, composer and conductor, was born in Macerata in 1963. He lives and works in Milan. He collaborates with soloists and orchestras in different parts of the world. He is the author of numerous books on musical subjects.

This text is taken from “Lunario della musica: Un disco per ogni giorno dell’anno” published by Einaudi, courtesy of the author and the publisher.