Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Roots Magic Sextet: Long Old Road

Roots Magic Sextet: Long Old Road

By Mark Corroto
August 8, 2023
View read count

The poet

Jayne Cortez

poet / spoken word

" data-original-title="" title="">Jayne Cortez once wrote "I'm taking the blues back to where / the blues stealers won't go / I'm talking the blues back home." For Roots Magic, back home isn't the crossroads where Robert Johnson made that infamous deal with the devil, but the peninsula in Southern Europe we call Italy. Long Old Road is the band's fourth release on Clean Feed Records and it follows Take Root Among The Stars (2020), Last Kind Words (2017), and Hoodoo Blues (2015). The ensemble has expanded from its original quartet, one which often featured guests, to a sextet. Joining clarinetist

Alberto Popolla

clarinet

" data-original-title="" title="">Alberto Popolla (who doubles on electric bass and banjo), saxophonist

Errico De Fabritiis

saxophone, alto

" data-original-title="" title="">Errico De Fabritiis, bassist

Gianfranco Tedeschi

bass, acoustic

" data-original-title="" title="">Gianfranco Tedeschi, and drummer (plus zither)

Fabrizio Spera

drums

" data-original-title="" title="">Fabrizio Spera are saxophonist and flutist

Eugenio Colombo

flute

" data-original-title="" title="">Eugenio Colombo and vibraphonist

Francesco Lo Cascio

vibraphone

" data-original-title="" title="">Francesco Lo Cascio.

Their brand of music is not unlike that of 1960s

Charles Mingus

bass, acoustic
1922 - 1979

" data-original-title="" title="">Charles Mingus' explorations and expansion of the blues aesthetic by incorporating the Black American traditions of musical expression from the Mississippi Delta to New York. In previous recordings they've covered artists such as Charlie Patton,

Julius Hemphill

saxophone, alto
1938 - 1995

" data-original-title="" title="">Julius Hemphill,

Ornette Coleman

saxophone, alto
1930 - 2015

" data-original-title="" title="">Ornette Coleman,

Roscoe Mitchell

saxophone
b.1940

" data-original-title="" title="">Roscoe Mitchell, and

Sun Ra

piano
1914 - 1993

" data-original-title="" title="">Sun Ra. Here they open the affair with the pacific percussive grooves of

Kahil El'Zabar

drums
b.1953

" data-original-title="" title="">Kahil El'Zabar's "When The Elephant Walks." Lo Cascio's inviting vibraphone summons first flute, then bass clarinet, with horns swirling a hypnotic euphonic sound. The ensemble digs deeper with their original composition "Sula" for Toni Morrison which roils with a turbulent energy and

Cal Massey

trumpet
1928 - 1972

" data-original-title="" title="">Cal Massey's "Things Have Got To Change," a composition that was the title track of

Archie Shepp

saxophone, tenor
b.1937

" data-original-title="" title="">Archie Shepp's 1971 Impulse! release. The blues are the fundamental building block here. "Blues Line" dedicated to

Muhal Richard Abrams

piano
1930 - 2017

" data-original-title="" title="">Muhal Richard Abrams draws upon some urbane and elegant blues via flute and clarinet, plus percussive attack. The title track, a cover by

Bessie Smith

vocals
1894 - 1937

" data-original-title="" title="">Bessie Smith, is presented with a quiet reverential approach. Zither and banjo echoes behind snaking clarinet, saxophone, and flute. For Roots Magic, everything new is also ancient as ancient is also avant.

Learn more about our star rating system

Track Listing

When The Elephant Walks; Sula; Run as Slow as You Can; Blue Lines; Long Old Road; Amber; Bullying Well; Drinking Coffee Elsewhere; Things Have Got to Change.

Personnel

Alberto Popolla

clarinet

Errico De Fabritiis

saxophone, alto

Eugenio Colombo

flute

Francesco Lo Cascio

vibraphone

Gianfranco Tedeschi

bass, acoustic

Fabrizio Spera

drums

Additional Instrumentation

Alberto Popolla: electric bass, banjo; Errico De Fabritiis: baritone saxophone; Eugenio Colombo: soprano saxophone; Francesco Lo Cascio: percussion; Fabrizio Spera: percussion, zither.

Album information

Title: Long Old Road | Year Released: 2023 | Record Label: Clean Feed Records

PREVIOUS / NEXT

Emergence
< Previous

Eleonora Strino, Yussef Dayes, Erik ...
Next >

Support All About Jazz

All About Jazz has been a pillar of jazz since 1995, championing it as an art form and, more importantly, supporting the musicians who make it. Our enduring commitment has made "AAJ" one of the most culturally important websites of its kind, read by hundreds of thousands of fans, musicians and industry figures every month.

Go Ad Free!

To maintain our platform while developing new means to foster jazz discovery and connectivity, we need your help. You can become a sustaining member for as little as $20 and in return, we'll immediately hide those pesky ads plus provide access to future articles for a full year. This winning combination vastly improves your AAJ experience and allow us to vigorously build on the pioneering work we first started in 1995. So enjoy an ad-free AAJ experience and help us remain a positive beacon for jazz by making a donation today.