“Fetish” the latest album from Dave Zinno Unisphere has a “refreshing groove”

Dave Zinno Unisphere “breathes with energy” on new release “Fetish”–available now!

Readers have seen this name more than once in the reviews of his releases on the site. Two years ago, we also published a review of the previous album of the Dave Zinno’s Unisphere ensemble called “Stories Told” (2019). And after 2019, as you know, came the year marked by the sign of the COVID-19 pandemic …. … It seems to me that it is just right to introduce a special concept: “post-covid jazz”. Thousands of musicians locked in their homes during a lockdown, deprived of the opportunity to perform in front of an audience, have only one option left: to compose music and hope that the clouds will someday dispel. Some people still managed to give network concerts, but the bulk of them worked at home, for the future. And in 2021, a lot of albums appeared based on these materials, albums in the music of which one can almost physically feel the performers’ joy from the possibility of new meetings, while at least in the studio. “Fetish” is one of them. When Zinno and the musicians of his band gathered in the studio in November 2020, each of them brought the material he had accumulated. It has accumulated in as many as 16 songs. As a result, a 12-track program was selected for recording the album. All the musicians who played on “Stories Told” participated in the recording of the album, plus they were joined by Zinno’s old partner, Argentine keyboardist Leo Genovese, famous for his performances with Esperanza Spaulding, and also, as a guest, another, in addition to Raphael Barata, a Brazilian trombonist Rafael Rocha. 

The album contains compositions and arrangements by Ray, Tucker, Genovese, Bloom and, of course, Dave Zinno himself – “Fetish”, “So Close So Far”, and “Nile”. The music of the ensemble, which is still mostly hard-bop in style, breathes with energy, joy of musicians’ communication with each other and, of course, mastery that has not disappeared anywhere. The album was recorded in two sessions, six hours each. As Dave himself says, “This project is the culmination of a year without live music. This record contains all the energy and emotions that have accumulated and have not found a way out for such a long time. Hopefully people will feel what we felt while making this album.” Zinno doesn’t have to worry – you can really hear it in the music of “Fetish”.

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Dave Zinno offers “string of well thought out jazz recordings” on latest release

Dave Zinno offers “string of well thought out jazz recordings” on latest release

 

DAVE ZINNO [bass] and his group, Unisphere [Mike Tucker-ts, Eric Benny Bloom-tpt/flg, Tim Ray-p, Rafael Barata-drm], have issued their second recording. In Zinno’s notes, he references Rio as his home base and discusses the fusion of North American and Brazilian music. As a result, one might expect a recording of soft and pretty cliched music. Not so, led by Mike Tucker’s consistently strong tenor work, this is closer to a hard bop exploration. Recorded 11/28 & 29/18, STORIES TOLD is the latest from Whaling City [#113] in a string of well thought out jazz recordings and offerings overall better than the tired old music issued by the names on major labels today. A mixture of 9 originals and covers [66:18], a good choice for those looking for adventure and not just familiarity.

 

 

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