This album is currently finalist at 13th Annual Independent Music Awards. Artist: Salvatore Cirillo Album: Looking for Listeners Reviewer: Nick DeRiso Pianist Salvatore Cirillo, appearing in both trio and vocalist-fronted quartet formats here, shows off a stirring range – moving from crinkly bop, to fiery blues then back to a deeply involving impressionism. The results, which he self-produced for VISION: editorial S.r.l., are revealed as a tour-de-force achievement for Cirillo, who’s following up his first album as a leader, 2009’s Unpretentious. (The Italian pianist has also done a pair of soundtracks over the last two years.) Looking for Listeners has a little something for every lover of jazz, either instrumental or vocal, up or down tempo. “Black Hats” begins things in a persistent groove courtesy of bassist Aldo Vigorito, and never abates. Amid that driving pace, Cirillo enters with a series of furiously inventive runs. Together, they tangle and embrace, playing with forceful conviction until the final thrilling clatter. But there’s more than hard-swinging to hear from Cirillo, a graduate of the Italian Conservatory in piano, jazz arrangement, composition and harpsichord. He shows remarkable restraint on the following track, opening with a lightly swinging effervescence on “A Spring Day” – even as vocalist Adele Capacchione enters. Scatting more than singing, she skips alongside, her wordless soloing the very sound of a sunny day. The rubbery groove of “I Can’t Take it Anymore” gives the song the feel of a classic Blue Note side, and Cirillo once again rises to the occasion – switching to a percussive, deep-fried approach at the keys. Working this time without Capacchione, the pianist then spars more directly with Vigorito during the solo passages, even as drummer Massimo Manzi kicks up a pleasant racket. Vibrant and bluesy, “I Can’t Take It Anymore” might be one of the album’s biggest surprises – a boisterous, late-night delight. “Circle” begins next with a thrumming sense of expectation, before settling into a boppish tumble of notes during the lengthy duet between Cirillo and Capacchione – whose swooping flourishes take on the fizzy intelligence of vocalese, so horn like and smartly constructed are her scats. “Mr. D.H.” is both fleet, and somewhat tense – making for a very compelling sequence of counterpoints. Working inside, and then slightly outside, Cirillo pushes hard against the active retorts of his fellow trio members. The song, which never quite uncoils, has this piercing sense of drama – and it couldn’t be more different than the subsequent “I Remember This,” a moment of undiluted trio romanticism. Taken together, they do as much as any other song sequence to illustrate the stirring imaginative range of this group. Vigorito fashions a twilight poignancy, even as Cirillo initially explores a quieter, more personal series of thoughts. When “I Remember This” eventually settles into a lightly swinging tempo, Cirillo and Vigorito remain in the fore, singing now more than whispering, but still the very portrait of blissful restraint. If “I Can’t Take It Anymore” brought us back to Bobby Timmons, this is Bill Evans, deep into Sunday at the Village Vanguard. “About Fly” descends then into a dimly lit portent, as Vigorito helps create an intriguing cloud cover . Capacchione, this time, begins as part of the rhythmic whisperings – adding trundling bass notes as Cirillo slowly emerges from the darkness. Then Capacchione and Cirillo suddenly come awake, as if the dawn broke. Together, they create a memorably inviting buoyance, trading lines like barely controlled utterances of joy. Cirillo and Co. finish Looking for Listeners with the hard-grooving “I Can’t Believe It,” a straight-forward tune, but one sustained with a steady warmth. Appearing a final time without Capacchione, the group opens up into a series of emotive solos, sending listeners on their way with the perfect digestif: It’s uncluttered, full of approachable musical ideas, and points the way toward still more future explorations. Salvatore Cirillo shouldn’t be looking for listeners much longer. Review by Nick DeRiso Rating: 4 stars (out of 5) Artist: Salvatore Cirillo Title: Looking for Listeners Review by Alex Henderson Italy, like other countries in Western Europe, has a wide variety of jazz. One can find anything from hard bop to avant-garde free jazz to Django Reinhardt-based gypsy swing in Italy, depending on where one chooses to look. Salvatore Cirillo, a straight-ahead acoustic jazz pianist/composer who was born in Marcianise, Italy in 1972, brings a strongly post-bop outlook to Looking for Listeners (which was recorded in Rome in early 2012). This is a trio date; Cirillo favors the time-honored piano trio format, employing Aldo Vigorito on acoustic bass and Massimo Manzi on drums (Vigorito and Manzi also live in Italy). And Cirillo’s post-bop pianism draws on direct or indirect influences that include Kenny Barron, McCoy Tyner and Chick Corea. Quite often, straight-ahead post-bop albums are loaded with standards. But Cirillo does not perform any standards at all on Looking for Listeners; everything on this 55-minute album is a Cirillo original, and that includes the vibrant “I Can’t Believe It,” the passionate “Black Hats” and the edgy “I Can’t Take It Anymore” as well as the contemplative “I Remember This” and the playful “Mr. D.H.” There is no shortage of energy on this album; Cirillo is definitely a hard-swinging and gutsy pianist. Cirillo is melodic and nuanced, but he swings hard and isn’t shy about expressing his passion. On “I Remember This,” however, Cirillo gives himself a chance to slow things down and reflect. And his pianism on “I Remember This” is decidedly lyrical. Although Looking for Listeners is an instrumental album first and foremost, Italian singer Adele Capacchione (who presently lives in Caserta in the southern part of Italy) is featured on three selections: “Circle,” the haunting “About Fly” and the optimistic, good-natured “A Spring Day.” Capacchione, a warm and likable vocalist, doesn’t embrace any lyrics on those songs; her vocals are strictly wordless scat-singing. And her scatting has a somewhat Flora Purim-ish quality, which is especially appropriate on the rather Chick Corea-flavored “Circle.” Purim, a well-known Brazilian jazz singer, was a member of Corea’s first Return to Forever lineup back in the early 1970s along with drummer/percussionist Airto Moreira (her husband) and the late tenor saxophonist Joe Farrell, and “Circle” is very much the type of thing that Purim would have done with Return to Forever back then. Now here’s the ironic part: Circle was the name of an avant-garde group that Corea led in his pre-Return to Forever days (none other than avant-garde icon Anthony Braxton was also a part of Circle), but Cirillo’s tune “Circle” doesn’t sound anything at all like Corea’s group Circle. Stylistically, Return to Forever was a major departure from the very abstract and left-of-center Circle, and it is that more accessible side of Corea that Cirillo identifies with on his song “Circle.” Many jazz instrumentalists, unfortunately, are not fond of jazz singers and refuse to use them on any of their albums. They like their jazz all instrumental all the time. But Cirillo obviously doesn’t feel that way, and his willingness use Capacchione on three selections is a plus. That said, Cirillo is an instrumentalist first and foremost, and Looking for Listeners is a largely instrumental album. It isn’t exclusively instrumental, but it is mostly instrumental (five of the eight tracks are instrumental and don’t feature Capacchione at all). And as enjoyable as Capacchione’s guest spots are, Cirillo’s pianism is the album’s main attraction. His piano playing is usually the focal point, and ultimately, Cirillo is the one who does the most to make Looking for Listeners a creative success (both as a pianist and as a composer). And while Looking for Listeners is not an exceptional album, it is a solid and respectable effort from this resident and native of Italy. Review by Alex Henderson Rating: 3 Stars (out of 5) Artist: Salvatore Cirillo Album: Looking For Listeners Review by Matthew Forss Italy’s Salvatore Cirillo is a jazz composer, pianist, and arranger with a solid education in the jazz arts and an uncanny ability to create moving, adventurous, and carefree compositions. Salvatore is joined by Adele Capacchione on vocals, Aldo Vigorito on double bass, and Massimo Manzi on drums. Looking For Listeners highlights both vocal and instrumental offerings that are clearly rooted in contemporary jazz with a South American, European, and Mediterranean influence throughout. “A Spring Day” opens with a few pensive piano notes, clanging cymbals, and brushy percussion with Adele’s sweet, pop standard vocals leading the charge. The twinkling piano notes and Adele’s scat vocals are inherently Italian, but there is a breezy simplicity of the instrumentation and vocals that suggest a South American presence. The song is not particularly catchy, but it does provide enthralling entertainment with all of the varied percussion and vocal styles. The clanging cymbals and piano mash-up are right on cue throughout. “About Fly” begins with a few haunting piano notes with an eerie double bass line and Adele’s unintelligible scat vocals. The vocals fade early on and take on a more intelligible sound with a steady, up-tempo jazz piano segment. Adele still interjects a few vocal utterances that are intertwined between the dizzying piano playing and moaning upright bass line. The slightly Brazilian vocal renderings are spritely and joined by very little in the way of percussion, aside from a few taps or clicks on the upright bass. “Black Hats” starts off with a steady upright bass line, breezy percussion, and clanging cymbals that find a balance in-between the piano notes. The drums, upright bass, and piano are all featured in short solos throughout. There are times when the music suggests a spy film soundtrack filmed somewhere down in Buenos Aires. However, the mix of instruments and nuances make the song shimmer with instrumental delight of an Italian origin. “Circle” opens with a steady, unchanging piano note or two for nearly one minute, before Adele’s unintelligible vocals overlap the forefront sound. There are moments where the piano heads into a sweeping melody to match the scat-like vocals. This is probably the most Scandinavian or Western European-aligned jazz tune. This is marked by a punchy melody overall, which is a favorite for fans of jazz scat. “I Remember This” begins with a few marked piano notes and tapping sounds that cut in and out. The relatively reduced and infrequent melody is particularly lethargic in its delivery. However, the piano sounds move into a gentler, sweeping melody that is rather calming and not as intrusive early on. The double bass adds a deeper sound to the mix, along with the brushy percussion and clattering cymbals. The instrumental tune is a meandering display of musicianship that is anything but boring. The punchy piano and droning bass fills in the percussion with ease. Salvatore Cirillo’s latest work, Looking For Listeners, ventures into both instrumental and vocal territories without resorting to encumbered music-making tactics that bog down the overall flow of the album. Without the addition of electronic, dance, or guitar elements, Looking For Listeners awakens the human soul with double bass reverberations, simple and reserved jazz percussion, and classic piano stylings. The vocalizations are upbeat, diverse, and more than likely necessary for some of the desired instrumentals. However, listeners expecting traditional song structures in a pop sense will probably be disappointed. Nevertheless, Salvatore Cirillo creates an evocative release of eight songs that leave room for interpretation, improvisation, and amazement. Salvatore Cirillo is looking for you. Find him today! Review by Matthew Forss Rating: 4.5 Stars (out of 5)