Giovanni Guidi | "A New Day"

On A New Day, Italian pianist Giovanni Guidi Expands his Trio’s Instrumental Grasp with the Introduction of American Saxophonist James Brandon Lewis

Not Only is the Ensemble Scope Widened with Lewis in Tow, New Dialects and Fresh Perspectives are Broached, and Different Instrumental Paths Taken

Featuring Giudi’s Longtime Collaborators

Bassist Thomas Morgan and Drummer João Lobo

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“Pianist Giovanni Guidi takes his regular trio of bassist Thomas Morgan and drummer João Lobo in a fresh direction with his latest album A New Day. While never shy when it comes to spontaneity, the threesome finds a new kick coming from guest James Brandon Lewis. The saxophonist never fails to bring the fire, but he’s also savvy enough to know how to serve another’s vision.”

— The Big Takeover

“What is interesting is how Guidi has accommodated the saxophonist by retaining the familiar characteristics of the trio but allowing the music to flow more freely.” — Jazz Views

“Guidi and his peers find freedom within open structures and rubato dramatization in a record replete with intimacy and restraint. Although not transcending at all times, Guidi proves to have a singular voice, being a legitimate representative of the European jazz sphere.” — Jazz Trail

Rekindling the familiarly flowing interplay with fellow travelers Thomas Morgan and João Lobo – the trio’s musical partnership goes back over a decade at this point – on A New Day Italian pianist Giovanni Guidi moreover expands the group’s instrumental grasp with the introduction of American saxophonist James Brandon Lewis, who makes his ECM debut here. Not only is the ensemble scope widened; with Brandon Lewis in tow, new dialects and fresh perspectives are broached, and different instrumental paths taken, inspired by an overall heightened sense of communication and Lewis’s unmistakable, confident tone.

On the opportunity to include the saxophonist in his band, Giovanni explains that his conversations with Brandon Lewis go back many years and that witnessing him live led Guidi “to believe that with James, the group dialogue could develop towards more abstract, open and improvisational approaches. In a way it was quite the gamble, as we come from very different paths, but the session for A New Day proved us right: the trio is pushed into new territories, while James – in my view – finds a very unique and interesting way to connect with us. It was a sincere journey of discovery.“

Rubato is not just guiding principle but inevitable consequence of these individual forces joining together – and the result all the better for it. Throughout the set, a relative pulse, rather than strict time, dictates the organic ebb and flow of musical expression, as the four highly attuned players exchange ideas, glances or even just inklings of thought, developed – like connecting dots – to a greater whole. While navigating through this maze of impulses and reactions, powerful, often wistful melodies are intoned, naturally – almost autonomously – rising from the respective structures like mountain peaks cutting through clouds.

The album opens with Cantos del Ocells,” a Catalan traditional famously interpreted by Joan Baez in the ’60s. After an expansive trio introduction to the song, carefully considered between piano, bass and drums, Lewis makes his entrance with curved lines and expressive temperament, not clinging to the main melody but rather swaying alongside its most significant notes with improvisatory freedom. Guidi contrasts these nimble lines with drone-like, arpeggiated piano patterns, embedding the quartet in a spellbinding haze – the pianist will continue to draw on this approach frequently as the program continues to unfold.

Five of the seven tracks are Guidi originals, bar one group improvisation, that demonstrate the pianist’s multiple-expressions-channelling jazz vernacular in bubbling group dynamics, where each individual plays to their strength. Thomas Morgan’s striking bow-work is to the fore on “To A Young Student,” while “Means for A Rescue“ opens the field for João Lobo’s vivid percussion etchings – both canvases feature the trio in its pure form and more adventurous than ever.

The fabric of the core trio’s communication has shifted over time and evolved into a more varied kind. “The idea was to regroup and find out together where we would take our music and our relationship,“ Guidi notes. “We soon discovered that we were ready to push into new territories, be more daring and open. I see this session as a new departure in many senses, existentially but also musically. During the session, I had the feeling that we had become each other’s extension, able to understand each other and push without fear.”

Brandon Lewis rejoins the group halfway through the freely improvised „Only Sometimes“ and leaves an especially memorable mark in conversation with Guidi on “Luigi (The Boy Who Lost His Name).” The rendition of “My Funny Valentine,” the sole standard of the session, is a subtly gliding vehicle for the pianist to stretch out with impressionist key strokes. With “Wonderland,” one of the album’s most memorable themes and strongest group performances is revealed at the very end, providing a powerful statement as the program’s conclusion.

Guidi: “I’ve worked with Manfred [Eicher] for many years now. Each time is a new opportunity for deep introspection and free dialogue, for sharing and learning. In the studio, Manfred told us to imagine a ‘new album’, and not ‘the next album’, so to speak; the relationship was so strong and trusting that we all took the chance to lead the way and go for it.” Hence, A New Day.

Recorded at Studios La Buissonne, Southern France, in August 2023, the album was produced by Manfred Eicher.