Record of the day: Rand-o-mania, “Strade”

Rand-o-mania
“Strade” (Cd Artesuono 012)

In a culturally conscious country this album would have won all the critics’ awards, the public would have flocked to it
at the band’s concerts and Rand-o-mania’s discography would have hosted numerous volumes.
Instead we are in Italy, “Strade” is the only work released by this fabulous group, and the critics spoke well of it but the attention remained focused on the most marketable stars.

Evidently a research path like the one undertaken by Roberto Cecchetto (guitar), Gianluca Petrella (trombone), Andrea Lombardini (bass) and UT Gandhi (drums) requires a few more listens than average but it is not at all difficult music, all other; its power to involve and communicate is immediate, but the record companies, always looking for the latest clone of the clones of tradition, have certainly not noticed this.
In Rand-o-mania’s music, many styles coexist, from funk to jazz, from free to bop, which continually reflect on the discussion by playing on the virtuosity of the protagonists, among other things all valuable composers.

The album has an exceptional qualitative stability that does not show any failures throughout its development; the sounds of the Australian Dijeridoo played by Petrella introduce the album in a mysterious way but already the song that titles the album is a burst of energy where the distorted and filtered sounds of Cecchetto’s guitar bounce madly on the continuous thrusts of the rhythm, while Petrella shows off a sonic aggression that is toned down in subsequent numbers such as “The Choice” and “Noesis”.

A great variety of atmospheres marks the entire album, with a very careful use of dynamics and sounds; the introduction of “Tony’s Lament” alone would be enough to demonstrate Cecchetto’s mastery (among the best European musicians) in weaving highly refined textures that accompany the trombone melody with sensitivity and intelligence, always underlined with highly musical interventions from UT’s drums Gandhi.

As often happens when it comes to jazz, you will have to look around a lot to find this record; in the shops you will find yourself faced with the bewildered faces of dumb shop assistants who will offer you yet another pseudo-Billie Holiday singer but don’t give up and search on the Internet, it’s worth finding this magnificent album.

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 topics.

This text is taken from “Lunario della musica: A record for every day of the year” published by Einaudi, courtesy of the author and the publisher.