CD review: Theo Allegretti – In Search of Light 2022: Video, CD cover

A Mediterranean chamber jazz piece by Italian pianist and composer Theo Alegretti. Over the years, he has been engaged in a variety of music, creating music for jingles, arrangements, radio, television and theater, and performing in various types of ensembles in recitals and solo concerts.

Alegretti pursues a personal language that projects his identity into a sort of “spiritual expressionism” by mixing his various styles and using stimulating sounds.

Produced by Dodicilune, distributed in Italy and abroad by IRD and in the best online stores by Believe, Theo Allegretti’s “In Search of Light” is released on Tuesday 31 May. The pianist and composer is joined by Nicola Alesini (soprano sax), Paolo Camerini (double bass), Andrea Ceccomori (flute), Mario Pio Mancini (bouzouki) and Simone Pulvano (percussion).

The eleven original compositions represent the epic of a journey in search of light. Through a series of ancestral invocations, propitiatory and initiatory dances and rituals, moments of meditation and reflection, we travel a path in search of a key to human existence on this earth, towards a coveted higher cosmic harmony. Starting from Tartarus, the last heaven of hell into which humanity has fallen, we ascend to ever higher levels until we see just what could be rays of transcendent light, beyond the earthly experience.

«A journey is always a journey within oneself. Path, walker and road ..: the ego towards itself is nothing else, said a Sufi mystic. So, those who come back are never the same as when they left ”, underlines Lucio Saviani in the cover notes of the album. “Journey is the other name for experience: it is transit, transformation, but also what one carries and will remain with one, as viaticum, the burden of becoming a pilgrim to become what one is. This work by Theo Allegretti is transformation, a way to the new condition, but also a journey that has a Return as its destination. Returning to the light is the return of the Principle. Theo Allegretti thinks of the principle, in his maieutic work, like the archaic philosophers dear to him: the principle is continuous incipient, a beginning that remains, governs and supports the initiate. Like death to which life returns and from where it is always reborn, like the silence from which music emerges, from which it is crossed and towards which it is destined. “Dia pas On”: you have to go through everything, the Light is the return of the Principle. The journey of Theo Allegretti’s music towards the light is all of this ».

In the booklet, the musician tells the listener the stages of his imaginary journey in search of light. “” Lost in Abyss “the fall of humanity in Tartarus (the last heaven of hell), invoking mercy for this condition; “Ritual” atavistic rite of exorcization, designed to facilitate the overcoming of our situation, for a transformation towards a new state; “Saling with Dolphins” the crossing of the boat, with which humanity is shipwrecked, which is saved by some dolphins and taken to safer shores; “Ancient Memories” the moments in history in which a condition of greater dignity and brightness of soul and thought was known; “Pythagoras Dance” propitiatory and initiation dance, way of asceticism, in honor of one of the most brilliant minds of the past and milestone of our development; “Thoughts” moment of meditation and reflection on the imperfect human condition and yearning for a transcendent serenity; “In Search of Light” the whole epic of the journey of the wisest minds to discover a key of human existence in this land; “Waves” the unknown and the difficulties to be overcome for anyone who sets out on a journey, but at the same time the beauty of the same for those who decide to set sail from the mainland towards unknown shores; “7th Path” the path that travelers decide to take in search of the seventh heaven, to rise to higher levels and reach the pinnacle; “Light Rays” what could be just glimpsed rays of transcendent light, life beyond, beyond earthly experience; “Epilogue” the passage from our condition to another, a serenity of soul that nevertheless conveys all the colorful emotions of the passing away towards an unknown situation, albeit one of bliss “.

Pianist, improviser / composer, Theo Allegretti searches for a personal language through evocative sounds and the reinterpretation of genres, revealing himself in a spiritual expressionism. He undertakes classical and jazz studies, perfecting himself with Giorgio Gaslini, Gianni Lenoci, Enrico Pieranunzi. He has been playing piano only since 1990. He makes jingles, arrangements, music for radio-TV, performs in poetry, theater, dance and performance recitals with the confluence of various arts. His reading-concert “Memories of the Principle”, on texts by the pre-Socratics, is presented in various reviews, becomes a theater-dance show and piano solo disco (Dodicilune, 2016), obtaining unanimous acclaim. Its peculiarities are the instant composition and the conjugation with word, stage action and visual arts.

With thirty albums under his belt, Nicola Alesini is a prolific artist and always intent on pushing the limits of expression further. His sound comes from introspection and evokes dreamlike suggestions, taking root partly in tradition and partly in improvisation. Always dedicated to the hybridization of different languages, he has collaborated with numerous national and international artists. Among them, David Sylvian, J. H. Roedelius, Claudio Lolli. It has always participated in social and civil initiatives. Among these, the collaboration with Paolo Borsellino’s sister, Rita, stands out for the commemorations of the latter.

Double bass player, bassist and composer from Rome, Paolo Camerini began his activity with Cyclone, a psychobilly-rock formation. Co-founder of the ethno rock group Nuove Tribù Zulu, he currently plays in the ethno folk duo Traindeville, in the project Il Sogno, a journey between poetry and music, with Musicians for Human Rights and other bands. He collaborated on the NOW Nomadic Orchestra of the World project with which he participated in several tours in India and Italy. He has made musical workshops with children in various countries from South Africa to India and in Italian schools. He has recorded and produced numerous records, composed soundtracks for TV programs, films and documentaries.

Andrea Ceccomori is an eclectic flutist, musician of the Memorial 9/11 in NYC. Behind 300 premieres, soloist at: Lincoln Center New York, San Pedro Porto Alegre Theater, Gestaig Monaco, Roy Thomson Hall Toronto, Kings Place London, Menhuin Madrid Foundation, UCAS Beijing, Scriabin Hall Moscow, Tolstoy Museum Saint Petersburg, Louvre Paris , Sala Paolo VI in the Vatican and Castel Gandolfo, American universities, throughout Italy, Europe, Canada and the United States, South America and Africa. 20 CD titles in his name, TV and radio broadcasts (RAI1, RAI5, Radio3, Vatican Radio, Radio Popolare, Radio New York, Radio Sofia), 3 books (Flauto Oggi, Di magici fluti, The Inspired and Illuminated musician). Teacher of Masterclasses in Brazilian, American, Russian, Romanian, Bulgarian universities.

Multi-instrumentalist, Mario Pio Mancini founds the Indaco with Rodolfo Maltese, historical guitarist of the Banco del Mutuo Soccorso, together with Arnaldo Vacca, now 30 years ago. The group is considered a landmark of Italian world music. Around this variable geometry formation, Mancini collaborates over the years with Lester Bowie (AEoC), Mauro Pagani (PFM, De André), Francesco di Giacomo (BMS), Eugenio Bennato, Toni Esposito, Paolo Fresu, Daniele Sepe, Snowy White ( Pink Floyd, Thin Lizzy) and many others. Currently, with a completely renewed staff, Mancini is working on the thirteenth cd in the studio.

Percussionist and author, it is in the field of Mediterranean music and ethno-jazz that Simone Pulvano realizes his most important collaborations, both in the studio and on stage, in Italy and abroad. He has played in his career with: Ziad Trabelsi, Pejman Tadayon, Jamal Ouassini, Mondocane, Handala, I Circolabili and many others. He is currently engaged as a percussionist in numerous projects ranging from classical Arabic music to world music, from the Italian popular repertoire to the electronic live set. He is the creator and director of the “Takadum Orchestra”, a group with three discs to its credit, and co-founder of the Mesudì project, an ensemble of only voices and percussion. He carries out teaching activities.