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Schema Rearward: The Reward of Visiting the Past

By Jakob Baekgaard
January 19, 2015
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While Davide Rosa's and Luciano Cantone's Schema label has created a contemporary jazz sound with influences from lounge music, soul, electronica and bossa nova, their sublabel Schema Rearward is the place for those seeking a more pure acoustic jazz sound. Emphasis is on re-issues of modern jazz, especially from the sixties, but contemporary releases have also found their way into the catalog to underline the connection between the past and the present.

The Kenny Clarke-Francy Boland Big Band
Live At Ronnie Scott's: Volcano / Rue Chaptal
2010

Among the jewels in Schema Rearward's catalog are the releases from The Kenny Clarke -Francy Boland Big Band. Pianist Francy Boland and drummer

Kenny Clarke

drums
1914 - 1985

" data-original-title="" title="">Kenny Clarke formed the big band with help from producer Gigi Campi and the result was inspired. The line-up included musicians such as trumpeter

Benny Bailey

trumpet
1925 - 2005

" data-original-title="" title="">Benny Bailey and saxophonists Sahib Shibab and

Johnny Griffin

saxophone, tenor
1928 - 2008

" data-original-title="" title="">Johnny Griffin. Live they could really blow the roof off and the concert the big band played at London's famous venue Ronnie Scott's on February 28 1969 was something special. Campi recalls Griffin saying: "Gigi, you're going to hear some strong shit tonight" and indeed the music gathered on Live At Ronnie Scott's: Volcano / Rue Chaptal is hot and swinging. It is a compilation of two albums: Volcano and Rue Chaptal and features the big band in full musical eruption, but also with a sophisticated sense of dynamics and texture. In fact, the restrained ballad "Love Which to No Loved One" shows how many colors the big band had on its palette. It could play like a volcano, but also blow like a soft, gentle breeze.

Benny Bailey
Mirrors
2009

The Kenny Clarke -Francy Boland Big Band had an incredible amount of talented musicians. Trumpeter Benny Bailey was one of them and he steps out on his own on the wonderful album Mirrors. He gets help from Francy Boland whose dynamic string arrangements are simply superb. Albums with strings are sometimes in danger of becoming too cerebral or sugary, but Mirrors avoids both of these traps and manages to speak both to the head and the heart. Bailey's warm trumpet blows in the lush setting of the strings that become part of a dynamic landscape with drums, bass, electric piano, saxophones and flute. The result is an album that is both rhythmic and romantic and it belongs in the pantheon of great string albums with saxophonist

Stan Getz

saxophone, tenor
1927 - 1991

" data-original-title="" title="">Stan Getz' Focus (1961) and

Clifford Brown

trumpet
b.1930

" data-original-title="" title="">Clifford Brown's With Strings (1955).

Sahib Shibab
Companionship
2008

Saxophonist and flutist Sahib Shibab plays on Benny Bailey's Mirrors and Bailey shows up among a host of other Boland Big Band-associates on the sessions that comprise the double-album Companionship. The album shows the full range of Shibab's artistry, ranging from the spiritual "Om Mani Padme Hum" that starts out with hypnotic hand drums and moves into swinging territory with dark piano chords and Shibab's singing flute and chanting. "Calypso Blues," on the other hand, is a combination of two pregnant musical styles: calypso and blues. The song combines the lively rhythms of the Calypso with the mournful lyrics of the blues: "Don't got the money to take me back to Trinidad" as one of the lines in the song says. Shibab is perhaps most well-known for his playing with pianist

Thelonious Monk

piano
1917 - 1982

" data-original-title="" title="">Thelonious Monk, but here he shows himself as accomplished artist in his own right.

Sahib Shibab
Summer Dawn
2008

Summer Dawn is another gem from Sahib Shibab. It opens with the irresistible "Lillemor" that reinvents the rhythm from pianist

Dave Brubeck

piano
1920 - 2012

" data-original-title="" title="">Dave Brubeck's "Take Five" and adds Shibab's flute that gently leads the rhythm into a slow ballad section before the vibrant rhythm emerges once again. This effect says a lot about Shibab's sophistication. He does not just stay in one musical bag, but changes tempi and aesthetic expression. At the heart of it all, however, is a love of rhythm. Even in the ballad "Campi's Idea," there is a vibrant bed of percussion underneath the piano chords. Summer Dawn dances elegantly into the light.

Eraldo Volont��
My Point of View
2010

Sahib Shibab is an unsung musician that deserves more recognition and the same could be said about the Italian saxophonist Eraldo Volont��. He is often associated with the second generation of jazz musicians that helped to move jazz in Italy in a new direction. My Point of View was released in 1963 and shows Volont�� in top form. The shadow of saxophonist

John Coltrane

saxophone
1926 - 1967

" data-original-title="" title="">John Coltrane lingers around Volent��'s interpretations of standards like "Summertime" and "On Green Dolphin Street," but he is still his own man and his playing is intense and soulful. He also knows how to get deep inside a ballad, as "You're Weaver of Dreams" clearly shows, and the accompaniment from the rest of the group, including pianist Renato Sellani and bassist Giorgio Azzolini, is simply smoking.

Eraldo Volont��
Free and Loose
2001

Azzolini turns up again as sideman on Volont��'s album Free and Loose. The album was released in 1968, five years after My Point View, and it is a brave exploration of free jazz as the title indicates. Gone are the standards. They are replaced by Volent��'s themes that form the basis of four different pieces. One of them is called "Dialogue" and this is exactly what this is: a conversation between highly skilled musicians. The music is free, but Volent��'s playing is still deeply soulful as he enters a more undefined territory without the harmonic safety net from the standards. A new order rises in the middle of it all and while the music might be abstract at times, the musicians still know how to swing.

Giorgio Azzolini
What's Happening?
1966

Bassist Giorgio Azzolini has been an important sideman for Eraldo Volont��, but he is also a charismatic leader in his own right. What's Happening? is one of his albums as a leader where he is playing in a trio with pianist Franco D'Andrea and drummer Franco Tonini. It was released in 1966 and the title track caught the attention of the famous German jazz critic Joachim-Ernst Berendt who said that: "'What's Happening?' for me is one of the most exciting European jazz compositions of this year."

"What's Happening?" is indeed an intriguing composition that starts out with Azzolini playing solo with bow while D'Andrea's piano drips gradually enter. The piano becomes more forceful with the accompaniment of Tonani's drums. There is a moment where Tonani is all alone, but then Azzolini and D'Andrea enter again. Essentially, it is all about listening and this is what these musicians do. They listen and then they see what happens. The album is both traditional and free. In fact, a sensitive reading of the standard "When I Fall in Love" shows how romantic Azzolini and the trio can be.

Giorgio Azzolini
Crucial Moment
2000

The follow-up to Giorgio Azzolini's album What's Happening? is called Crucial Moment. It was released in 1968, the same year as Eraldo Volent��'s Free and Loose, and Azzolini is still exploring the free approach that he shared with Volont�� on that album. He is in the company of pianist Franco D'Andrea, who also played with him on What's Happening?, but the most interesting thing is the addition of two top players that many listeners will associate with Italian jazz: drummer

Aldo Romano

drums
b.1941

" data-original-title="" title="">Aldo Romano and trumpeter

Enrico Rava

trumpet
b.1939

" data-original-title="" title="">Enrico Rava. These stars of modern Italian jazz are heard as dedicated sidemen. Romano can take the rhythm anywhere and Rava plays with beauty and fire. The program is dominated by Azzolini's compositions, but there is a reading of "Israel," a recording associated with trumpeter Miles Davis, where the group is reduced to a trio without Rava. "Free Duet" is even sparser and shows the tight communication between pianist D'Andrea and the leader. Like the rest of the group, they combine freedom with lyrical sensitivity.

Pietro Ciancaglini
Reincarnation of a Lovebird
2009

Another great Italian bassist is Pietro Ciancaglini who belongs to the contemporary jazz scene in Italy. Mostly Schema Rearward concentrates on the treasures of the past, so in a way it is unusual that the label releases new music. However, it is possible to find contemporary artists in the Schema Rearward catalog and in a way the album Reincarnation of a Lovebird, which was released in 2009, does look back. Ciancaglini pays homage to the legendary bassist and composer

Charles Mingus

bass, acoustic
1922 - 1979

" data-original-title="" title="">Charles Mingus. He does so with his own original compositions and readings of the master's music. The result is intriguing and respectful and highlights the sophistication of Mingus' compositions. Like a triptych, it shows the many nuances of his music and also makes it clear that Mingus was a part of tradition that goes all the way back to the pianist

Jelly Roll Morton

piano
1890 - 1941

" data-original-title="" title="">Jelly Roll Morton.

Johnny Griffin
Lady Heavy Bottom's Waltz
2008

Pietro Ciancaglini pays tribute to a big man on Reincarnation of a Lovebird. The tenor saxophonist

Johnny Griffin

saxophone, tenor
1928 - 2008

" data-original-title="" title="">Johnny Griffin was small, but also great, and he became known as "The Little Giant." His album Lady Heavy Bottom's Waltz was originally released on Vogue in 1968. It is a record that adds nuances to the idea that Griffin is a "fast tenor." An idea he comments on in the liner notes: ""They always talk about my being quick but what is "quick"? It's just my way of expressing myself, that's all. To be quite honest, the reason for my playing like I do is because I'm so nervous. I just have to take my horn in my hand and it starts to vibrate. I don't play in order to prove anything, I just play because I enjoy it." Joy is certainly felt in the music and Griffin slows down on the sensual ballad "Please Send Someone to Love" where he spins sweet, bluesy lines. Griffin was more than a fast saxophonist. He was simply a great saxophonist.

Piero Umiliani
Smog
2014

Europeans were lucky to have a capacity like Johnny Griffin on the continent for a long period and fortunately he was not the only American star who visited Europe. The trumpeter

Chet Baker

trumpet and vocals
1929 - 1988

" data-original-title="" title="">Chet Baker is another example of a musician with close ties to Europe and Italy and he is the prominent guest star on Piero Umaliani's soundtrack to the movie Smog. The setting of the movie is Los Angeles and the music is just as complex as the city. There is a range of different moods from swooning strings to noir-style jazz and Latin swing and Baker's atmospheric horn is not the only highlight.

Helen Merrill

vocals
b.1929

" data-original-title="" title="">Helen Merrill's voice is gorgeous on the title track where she sings "You are my only man / my lover man" with a sensual voice.

Quartetto di Lucca
Quartetto
2014

There is a link between the Quartetto di Lucca and Chet Baker. The group accompanied the trumpeter on different dates in 1959 and it is not hard to understand why Baker would approve of the group when listening to the album Quartetto. The line-up with piano, vibes, bass and drums immediately brings The Modern Jazz Quartet to mind and listeners with a preference for this group will find much to like about the music, but they also got their own thing going. Their version of the familiar "Night in Tunisia" shows how the group could play as fast and swinging as the most hardened be-bopper, but they also take advantage of the tonal delicacy of their instrumentation on the slow reading of the standard "Like Someone in Love" where pianist Vito Tommasi's piano resonates beautifully with Antonello Vanucchi's vibes. Even though the music was recorded in 1962, it still feels fresh. With Schema Rearward it is a reward to visit the past and even the new releases on the label carry a respect for the tradition of jazz.

Tracks and Personnel

Live At Ronnie Scott's: Volcano / Rue Chaptal

Tracks: Box 703, Washington D.C.; Griff's Groove; Volcano; Love Which To No Loved One Permits Excuse For Loving; Now Hear My Meanin'; And Thence We Issued Out Again To See The Stars; Rue Chaptal; I Don't Want Nothing From Nobody And I Ain't Giving N; Sax No End; You Stepped Out Of A Dream; The Minor Blues; The Girl & The Turk; Kenny & Kenny.

Personnel: Kenny Clarke: drums; Francy Boland: piano; Benny Bailey: trumpet; Idrees Sulieman: trumpet; Dusko Gojkovic: trumpet; Tony Fisher: drums; ?ke Persson: trombone; Nat Peck: trombone; Eric Van Lier: trombone; Derek Humble: alto saxophone; Johnny Griffin: tenor saxophone; Ronnie Scott: tenor saxophone; Tony Coe: tenor saxophone, clarinet; Sahib Shibab: baritone saxophone; Ron Matthewson: bass; Kenny Clare: drums.

Mirrors

Tracks: Mirrors; Effluves; Flunkeyania; Subumbra; Everything Happens To Me; At Ronnie's.

Personnel: Benny Bailey: trumpet, flugelhorn; Tony Coe: tenor saxophone, clarinet; Sahib Shibab: baritone saxophone, flute; Francy Boland: piano; Jean Warland: bass; Tony Inzalaco: drums + 12 strings section.

Companionship

Tracks: Om Mani Padme Hum; Bohemia After Dark; Companionship; Stoned Ghosts; Jay Jay; Dijdar; Con Alma; Ct+Cb; The Turk's Bolero; Talk Some Yak-Ee-Dak; Calypso Blues; Balafon; I'm a Fool To Want You; Insensatez; Invitation; Yah Yah Blues; Serenata; Just Give Me Time; Born To Be Blue; Sconsolato.

Personnel: Sahib Shibab: baritone saxophone, flute; Jimmy Woode: bass, vocals; Milt Jackson: vocals; Kenny Clarke: drums; Francy Boland: piano; ?ke Persson: trombone; Benny Bailey: trumpet, flugelhorn; Idrees Sulieman: trumpet; Sadi: percussion, vibraphone.

Summer Dawn

Tracks: Lillemor; Please Don't Leave Me; Waltz For Seth; Campi's Idea; Herr Fixit.

Personnel: Sahib Shibab: alto saxophone, baritone saxophone, flute; Jimmy Woode: bass; Joe Harris: bongo; Kenny Clarke: drums; Francy Boland: piano; ?ke Persson: trombone.

My Point of View

Tracks: Summertime; Oh Green Dolphin Street; You Are a Waver of Dress; So What; Some Other Blues.

Personnel: E. Volont��: tenor saxophone; R. Sellani: piano; G. Azzolini: bass; L. Biondi: drums.

Free and Loose

Tracks: Free And Loose; Dialogue; For Gaslini; Six For Arpo.

Personnel: Eraldo Volont��: tenor saxophone; Oscar Valdambrini: trumpet; Dino Piana: trombone; Giorgio Azzolini: bass; Benoit Charvet: bass; Franco Manzecchi: drums.

What's Happening?

Tracks: Interplay; What's Happening?; when I Fall In Love; Waiting For M.; We Mean The Blues; Tension; Moose The Mooche.

Personnel: Giorgio Azzolini: bass; Franco D'Andrea: piano; Franco Tonani: drums.

Crucial Moment

Tracks: Crucial Moment; Giorvi; Blues Deflection; Beyond The Corner; Free Duet; Israel.

Personnel: Giorgio Azzolini: bass; Franco D'Andrea: piano; Enrico Rava: trumpet; Aldo Romano: drums.

Reincarnation of a Lovebird

Tracks: So Long Eric; Canon; Balarm; Reincarnation Of A Lovebird; Nostalgia In Time Square; Freedom; Moanin'; Jelly Roll; Homage; Haitian Fight Song.

Personnel: Pietro Ciancaglini: double bass; Daniele Tittarelli -alto sax; Max Ionata—tenor saxophone; Pietro Lussu -piano; Walter Paoli -drums; Javier Girotto, baritone saxophone.

Lady Heavy Bottom's Waltz

Tracks: Foot Patting; Please Send Me Someone To Love; The Turk's Bolero; Deep Eight; A Handful Of Soul; The Jamf's Are Coming; Lady Heavy Bottom's Waltz.

Personnel: Johnny Griffin: tenor saxophone; Benny Bailey: trumpet, flugelhorn; ?ke Persson: trombone; Sahib Shibab: baritone saxophone; Francy Boland: piano; Jimmy Woode: bass; Kenny Clare: drums; Kenny Clarke: drums.

Smog

Tracks: Smog; Neapolitan Phantasy; Dawn; Hollywood Tonight; California In The Summer; Thinkin' Blues; Smog; Tension; Tops; Alone In A Crowd; Bowling; Twilight in Los Angeles.

Personnel: Chet Baker: trumpet; Helen Merrill: vocal + orchestra conducted and directed by Piero Umiliani.

Quartetto

Tracks: .Quartetto; Soft Winds; Night in Tunisia; Estate '61; Gabry; Blues for Carole N.2; Like Someone in Love; Lullaby of Birdland; West Blues; Estate '58.

Personnel: Giovanni Tommaso: bass; Giampiero Giusti: drums; Vito Tommaso: piano; Antonello Vannucchi: vibraphone.

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