LUCIAN BAN / JOHN SURMAN / MAT MANERI “Cantica Profana” and “The Athenaeum Concert”

ARTIST

Lucian Ban / John Surman / Mat Maneri

ALBUM TITLE

“Cantica Profana” and “The Athenaeum Concert”

LABEL

Sunnyside

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These two precious CDs were recorded over a little more than a year and a half. They are closely related and mirror each other in personnel and in the musical solutions adopted. They document cross-collaborations and ensemble work that have already appeared on Sunnyside and elsewhere. The result is superlative, undoubtedly among the best releases of 2025, even though the material could easily have been issued as a single double album.

The synergy among the three musicians is masterful: Surman’s aplomb, infused with dancing, rustic, popular memory; Ban’s exemplary ability to hold the music together; and Maneri’s eccentric sound and thought. The tone of the two works is remarkably coherent, with some general patterns emerging. Episodes featuring Surman on bass clarinet tend to be darker, more reflective, and at times painful, while those with him on soprano saxophone are more ringing and direct, with a bucolic, sinuous festivity that feels both epic and solemn. Within this framework, Ban remains consistently lucid, while Maneri plays the role of free agent, though more restrained than on many other occasions.

In the end, these two albums are essential and absolutely equal in value.

Alberto Bazzurro

DISTRIBUTED BY

Sunnyside

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