MARIO MARIOTTI “La persistance du rêve”

ARTIST

Mario Mariotti

ALBUM TITLE

“La persistance du rêve”

LABEL

Abeat

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The Milanese trumpeter and composer – whom we recently interviewed – arrives at this latest work after recordings with themes and content very different from what is found here. The ensemble is also new, bringing together musicians with contrasting artistic sensibilities. Perhaps the secret of Mariotti’s success lies precisely in this blend of personalities, which makes the project shine. He has managed to integrate divergent perspectives into an album where each member contributes as both instrumentalist and composer.

Roberto Olzer’s refined, cultured piano playing carries strong classical resonances. Andrea Grossi, an avant-garde bassist and improviser with a deeply lyrical streak, stands out with a memorable solo on Via Volta 28. Marco Zanoli, with decades of experience, proves to be more than just a drummer: here he acts as rhythmic coordinator, shaping timbral moods and opening fresh sonic spaces within the quartet.

La persistance du rêve is, in essence, a two-sided album. On one side are compositions with an impressionistic, somewhat retro tone. Mariotti’s trumpet rises gently like a postmodern chant in pieces such as Via Volta 28, Zephiro, the sublime and moving Die Irren, and at times The Brave One. The other side, Janus-like, looks toward a future still to be invented. Here the quartet dives into a triptych of Untitled pieces, where spontaneous invention, melodic fragments, or rhythmic entropy set the direction.

Mariotti’s repertoire is not limited to original compositions. He also draws from the pantheon of Italian composers, momentarily stepping away from the dominant African American repertoire to explore a Eurocentric foundation that resonates with his own vision of creative freedom. These include Massimo Falascone’s Monolith, Giancarlo Schiaffini’s shadowy Come se fosse autunno, and Dino Betti van der Noot’s Lullaby for a Lion.

An album poised between past and future, impressionism and invention – a testament to Mariotti’s breadth of imagination and his ability to weave contrasting voices into a unified statement.

—Flavio Caprera

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