51 by Andrea Molinari

Guitarist Andrea Molinari (who was born in Jesi 1986 and later moved to Rome) is one of the most talked-about artists of the moment. His approach and music are reminiscent of a very modern understanding of jazz music, in which the knowledge of tradition supports a concise language that gives vent to broad-ranging improvisations.

Andrea avails himself of intelligent, sensitive musicians able to develop his intuitions in the best possible way, such as Marco Valeri, Luca Fattorini, Domenico Sanna and Logan Richardson, who played on his widely appreciated debut album, entitled “L’era dell’Acquario”, or trumpeter Alessandro Presti, pianist Enrico Zanisi, bassist Matteo Bortone and drummer Enrico Morello, who are some of the musicians bringing prestige to contemporary Italian jazz music, and who played on his second album, which is called simply “51” and will be released by US label Ropeadope Records on 12th April.

Molinari’s interest in numerology and esoterism (L’era dell’Acquario - the Age of Aquarius - is the modern era according to the Ancient Mayans, whereas the number 51 stands for the inclination of the Great Pyramid of Giza, the largest and most ancient of the three main pyramids of the Giza Necropolis as well as the most ancient of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World) is the guiding thread that links these two works beyond music and renders them interesting to listen to by giving an insight into the author’s interest in both the modern and the ancient.

The guitarist from the Marche region attaches great importance to song structure (which was already evident in his debut album), and the catchiness of his songs is somewhat of a trademark of his. In “51”, each of the nine tracks (which are all original compositions that include different genres with different line-ups of musicians) has a very personal evocative meaning, and is enhanced by the performances of two vocalists, Camilla Battaglia and Clementina Regina (a soprano), who give colour to an album that reconciles expert listeners and uncompromising critics.