Best of 2017 #06 – Bird is the worm:
Marco Santilli CheRoba – “L’occhio della betulla” (Unit Records)

Marco Santilli released two albums in 2017, and both deserved a slot in this year’s Best of 2017. The clarinetist’s concoction of chamber, jazz and folk accentuates the dramtic beauty of a simple melody, and patiently illustrates how a universe of possibilities exist within the nuance of each.

With L’occhio della betulla, Santilli took his CheRoba ensemble of 12-string guitarist Lorenzo Frizzera, pianist Ivan Tibolla and percussionist Fulvio Maras into the recording studio, with many of the same compositions as La Stüa, but with a completely different result. These are tranquil pieces. They bubble with life and resonate with daydream imagery, and there’s a certain majesty to how this music fills up a room.

The balance between jazz, folk and chamber is more evenly distributed, and the transitions between states of primacy are as effortless and smooth as the changing of tides. And while it exhibits many of the same complexities as its 2017 counterpart, L’occhio della betulla simmers with a brooding passion that hints at a power that could obliterate mountains. This is the most beautiful thing to see the light of day in 2017. Bird is the Worm 29.12.2017.

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Quando compone, Marco Santilli pensa in italiano. Clarinettista ticinese da tempo affermato sulla scena musicale della Svizzera tedesca, lancia un ponte verso sud anche con il suo nuovo quartetto CheRoba. E i quattro musicisti che lo compongono interpretano i suoi brani come se li avessero portati in giro per anni nei club. È un universo fatto di reminiscenze dello scrittore Hermann Hesse a Montagnola, melodie ispirate a una poesia dialettale, ballate abilmente tessute, citazioni della tradizione jazzistica e improvvisazioni scatenate. Canzoni e jazz si fondono in una poetica miscela di stili e immagini che vanno in scena, con una ‘serenada in minur’.