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Duets of a Fool

by Sebastiano Dessanay

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  • Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    Original 2016 CD with digipak case. New and shrink wrapped.

    Includes unlimited streaming of Duets of a Fool via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
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  • Streaming + Download

    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
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1.
Two Fools 01:54
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2.
Sebastiano Dessanay & Paul Dunmall - Duet No. 1 03:32
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3.
Sebastiano Dessanay & Sebastiano Meloni - Suite No. 1 03:43
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4.
Sebastiano Dessanay & Rachael Cohen - Duet No. 2 03:02
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5.
Sebastiano Dessanay & Francesco Morittu - Suite No. 2 02:02
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6.
Sebastiano Dessanay & Howard Skempton - Two Songs of a Fool 02:48
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7.
Sebastiano Dessanay & Augusto Pirodda - Duet No. 3 03:34
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8.
Sebastiano Dessanay & Melinda Maxwell - Suite No. 3 03:40
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9.
Sebastiano Dessanay & Mark Sanders - Duet No. 4 03:12
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10.
Sebastiano Dessanay & Jack McNeil - Suite No. 4 02:44
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11.
Sebastiano Dessanay & Fulvio Sigurta - Our Foolish Hearts 01:59
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about

Eleven duets swinging between improvisation and composition. Double bassist Sebastiano Dessanay has collected together musical dialogues with important artists he came across with during his artistic career including Paul Dunmall, Mark Sanders, Rachel Cohen, Melinda Maxwell and Jack McNeill.

Recurring phrases, circular elements and great musicality permeate this album: "The duets are intentionally short", says the Sardinian Birmingham-based double bassist, "Although completely improvised, they tend to a form and to the recall of musical elements typical of written music".

All the ten artists that converse with him, one for each track, have been part of his artistic career. A conversation within himself is added: the two fools of the opening track are just two self-deprecating facets of the bassist, as in a monologue at the mirror. The artists featured in the album range from new generation talents such as the Italian trumpeter Fulvio Sigurtà to established names of the British free jazz scene such as Paul Dunmall and Mark Sanders.

There are several artists from Sardinia, where Dessanay started as a bass player: pianist Sebastiano Meloni, who uses improvisation as his main artistic device, classical-contemporary guitar player Francesco Morittu and jazz pianist Augusto Pirodda, who recorded with Paul Motian and Gary Peacock.

And the UK-based artists that have collaborated with Dessanay in the past few years: Scottish sax player Rachael Cohen, London Sinfonietta oboist Melinda Maxwell and clarinetist and songwriter Jack McNeill.

Sebastiano Dessanay: double bass
Paul Dunmall: tenor saxophone (track 2)
Sebastiano Meloni: piano (track 3)
Rachael Cohen: alto saxophone (track 4)
Francesco Morittu: guitar (track 5)
Howard Skempton: voice (track 6)
Augusto Pirodda: piano (track 7)
Melinda Maxwell: oboe (track 8)
Mark Sanders: drums (track 9)
Jack McNeill: clarinet (track 10)
Fulvio Sigurtà: trumpet (track 11)

“The eleven pieces are all under four minutes long, two of them under two minutes. All are entirely improvised, though leaning towards a formula which reflects some of the fundamentals characteristic of written composition. The music on this album is a delight. There is an historical thread of recollection and investigation, research and rejoicing, and a dialogue which recognises that all is not yet revealed; the new is still to be learnt and revealed.” - Ken Cheetham, Jazz Views

credits

released May 20, 2016

Sound Engineers and Assistants: Sebastiano Dessanay, Matthew O’Malley, Emma Chilton.
Editing: Ben Weatherill.
Mixing and Mastering: Marti Jane Robertson.

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SLAM Productions London, UK

Free jazz, contemporary jazz and improvised recorded music label founded by saxophonist George Haslam in 1989, which has released over 250 albums.

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