Five years after the acclaimed “Alchemy in Jazz”, the Quintet led by celebrated pianist and composer Oscar Rocchi was back in the studio to record “Jazz Progression”, which may be regarded as a sequel to the earlier album, but this time with Giovanni Tommaso replacing Furio Di Castri on double bass.
The Italian maestro, who penned library-music masterpieces such as"Pop-Paraphrenia”, “Erbe Selvatiche” and many more, here uses his characteristically refined yet engaging and deeply expressive style to further explore his relationship with the tradition of ‘60s and ‘70s American modern jazz. The result is a sequence – or rather, as stated in the title, a “progression” – of eight original pieces that each pay homage to one of the greats of the past, from John Coltrane (“Kind Words”) to Bill Evans (“Thema”), and from Gato Barbieri (“Action Up”) to Miles Davis (“Example”).
These little gems of Italian jazz come straight from the cocktail-crowd Milan of the '80s. Now available for the first time ever in digital format, they were recorded and mixed at the legendary Barigozzi Studio, which attracted jazz musicians from all over the world and was founded by saxophonist and flutist Giancarlo Barigozzi, one of the key figures of Milanese jazz and library music between the '60s and '80s. Sip them all like fine wine!