Dino Betti van der Noot (1936-)
"Où sont les notes d'antan ?"- "That Muddy Mirror"
"Velvet Is the Sound of Drums", d'après "Afar"
"The Paths of Wind"
"Threading the Dark-Eyed Night"

Gianpiero LoBello, trompette, bugle
Alberto Madarini, trompette, bugle
Mario Mariotti, trompette, bugle
Paolo De Ceglie, trompette, bugle
Luca Begonia, trombone
Stefano Cacagno, trombone
Enrico Allavena, trombone
Gianfranco Marchesi, trombone basse
Sandro Cerino, flûtes, clarinettes, saxophone alto
Andrea Ciceri, saxophone alto
Giulio Visibelli, flûte alto, saxophone ténor
Rudi Manzoli, saxophone ténor
Gilberto Tarocco, clarinette, saxophone baryton
Rudi Manzoli, saxophone ténor
Emanuele Parrini, violon
Niccolo Catteneo, piano
Filippo Rinaldo, claviers
Vincenzo Zitello, harpe celtique
Gianluca Alberti, basse électrique
Stefano Bertoli, percussion, batterie
Tiziano Tononi, percussion, batterie

This new album differs in a few ways from my last works. Firstly, the five compositions have essentially been thought for a live performance – at the No’hma Theatre in Milan – with the studiorecording coming sometime later. I wanted this music to express the joy we feel in playing together, and I knew this would in turn communicate itself to the listener – this without abandoning the idea of “story-telling” through precise musical paths: tales that everyone can interpret as he/she likes, but which bond musician and listener together A second difference lies in the choice of the thematic materials and their developments. There are in fact certain phrases, harmonies, single notes that stay forever in our memory, continuously renewing the emotions they gave and give us. Notes that come to the surface, precisely as they are or in some cryptic, even distorted, way in the most different situations imaginable. These notes also bubble up as we compose or improvise. And this happens more and more as we get older: our experiences become layered one upon the other, melting in an ever-shifting sea, full of images, words and sounds. Fragments from King Oliver, Händel, Ellington, Morgan Lewis/Carmichael/Newley, Gershwin, or even folk music, resonate in these tracks: possibly the listener will not detect them clearly. But it’s not really important, because all music is composed of many threads from the past – threads which find new life in different cultures, sensibilities and historical moments. Sounds that are deceptively familiar, but one doesn’t know why. Maybe it is enough for them to resonate without asking why or when.