Roberto Spadoni
Mah
Sword Records, 2020

Mah is the first album released by Sword, the label founded by Roberto Spadoni.

Tireless and brilliant arranger and teacher (his two volumes of Jazz Harmony published by Volonté & Co. are among the best methods written in Italy), Roberto Spadoni has returned to the guitar and has recently published his new album Mah for the Sword label, which he founded.

Spadoni is accompanied by Fabio Petretti on tenor and soprano, Paolo Ghetti on double bass and Massimo Manzi on drums. The album features nine original songs that belong to the great current of contemporary jazz: there is no lack of references to particularly significant sounds of the last decades (the title track recalls the quartets led by John Scofield and Joe Lovano, for example), but Spadoni’s freshness and writing talent emerge decisively, as can be heard in the long and articulated melody of “Escape of News” and in the slightly more angular melody of “Remore Morali”, enriched by a beautiful double bass solo.

“Girotondo” is a fun song, with a close dialogue between the drums and the other instruments and expose a theme that explores numerous ambiguities and rhythmic divertissements. The leader’s solo is beautiful, with a warm tone that colors a “Monkian” phrasing. “Buonanotte” is a sweet and lyrical ballad, followed by “Io non Ridevo”, a sanguine song, full of groove, suspended between New Orleans and the blues. The excellent closing of the disc is “Ce la Posso Fare”, a song with the A sections characterized by the overlapping of different tempos, including rock, swing and Latin.

Mah is a well-played record that well mixes the characteristics of contemporary jazz with Spadoni’s brilliant and original writing.
(EM)