CD review: Roberto Zanetti Quartet – Bud’s Power – 2023: Video, CD cover

New album for Roberto Zanetti, Veronese musician and talented composer, with many years of career behind him.

Zanetti intended to make a record that was a tribute to the memory of Bud Powell, a virtuoso of jazz music, considered by all to be one of the inventors of that be-bop that revolutionized the music scene of the time in the 1940s.

The chosen formula is that of the jazz quartet, for a very interesting “line up” characterized by the presence – as well as Roberto Zanetti himself, on piano – by Valerio Pontrandolfo, on tenor sax, Martino De Franceschi, on double bass and Oreste Soldano to the battery. The album is titled “Bud’s Power” and includes thirteen tracks, ten of which are reinterpretations of Bud Powell’s repertoire, such as the extraordinary “Cleopatra’s Dream”, “In The Mood For A Classic”, “Bud On Bach” and “Down With It”. The other three compositions on the disc are “She”, a successful “cover” of a song written by George Shearing, and two original pieces.

The first of these is entitled “Elettroshock”, a composition written by Zanetti himself and dedicated to the period spent by Bud Powell in an American psychiatric hospital; the piece includes the suggestive “spoken word” recited by the actor Nicolò Sordo. At the end of the disc there is then “Come Closer To Me”, a piece full of nostalgia that sees Matteo Zanetti, Roberto’s son, on the cello.

Before recording the record I listened extensively to Bud Powell’s discography and delved into his troubled life. The set list I chose are songs where I am comfortable and comfortable both as time and melos. I am currently working on songs that I wrote during the lockdown and would like to record them by the end of the year. The musicians who played on the record are first and foremost friends with whom I shared many years of concerts and daily life experiences. Only young Martino De Franceschi Nicolò Sordo voice acting in the first take “Elettroshock” and my son Matteo on cello in the last take “Come close to me” inserted themselves for the recording,- an interview with me said Roberto Zanetti.

The album is very enjoyable and pleasantly “swinged”, the notes of Pontrandolfo’s tenor sax are always in the foreground and delicious Afro-Cuban arrangements form the background for Roberto Zanetti’s jazz piano scores.

We recommend that you definitely own this CD and enjoy it, especially Bud on Bach!!!

01. Elettroshock
02. Bud on Bach
03. Time Waits
04. Buster Rides Again
05. She
06. Blue Pearl
07. Sub City
08. In the Mood for a Classic
09. Duid Deed
10. Monopoly
11. Cleopatra’s Dream
12. Down with It
13. Come Close to Me

Roberto Zanetti (Piano)
Matteo Zanetti (Cello)
Valerio Pontrandolfo (Tenor Sax)
Martino De Franceschi (Double Bass)
Oreste Soldano (Drums)
Nicolò Sordo (Spoken Voice)

Buy from here – New CD 2023