Reviewed by Kai Horsthemke

After getting to review Italian low-end maestro Lorenzo Feliciati’s studio album, ‘Upon My Head’, I was keen to listen to the live album recorded in the same year, 2004. The latter reprises three of the tracks on the studio album, with three of the live tracks being ‘new’ (to these ears at least), and contains two additional studio tracks.

‘Coffee Flavour’ is a gentle opener to this set, rich in harmonics and arpeggios, and indicates the bassist’s rapport with his drummer of choice, Lucrezio de Seta, and keyboardist Aidan Zammit. The piece is essentially a chordal sequence; here as elsewhere, the bassist’s tone is round, growly and big. Things get more intense on the propulsive, jittery live version of ‘Thief Like Me’. Again, perhaps, low on ‘take-home’ melodic value, it nonetheless features the trio in stealthily telepathic mode. ‘Don’t Ask Me To Dance’ is familiar from the aforementioned studio album, a mock tango, and the bassist’s tongue appears to be firmly in cheek here – as does Zammit’s, with the pianist’s bombastic and over-the-top flourishes. ‘Footsteps’ is a successful rendition of the Wayne Shorter classic, with Zammit responsible for the melody. Five-minutes-plus into the track the band hit overdrive as they transport the tune to Cuba – where it remains. Great! ‘Alice (A Lullaby)’ – presumably pronounced ‘Ah-lee-chay’ – is a gentle, harmonic-laden and child-friendly composition. Yet, the tune (already familiar from the studio version) contains various twists and surprises that make it one of the highlights here. ‘Groove First’ is all that, and more: with additional keyboardist Vittorio Iue, it is a high-energy burner, with strong melodic content and enticing accents and rhythmic shifts, featuring Feliciati at his nimble-fingered best. The ‘extra studio tracks’ introduce soprano saxophonist Fabrizio Mandolini. Feliciati also plays acoustic guitar and keyboards on ‘The Dance’, a vibey, Weather-Reportish tune that seems to suggest that, fortunately, the bassist has succumbed to the request to ‘move his body’ (see track 3). ‘Smart As You’ is more angular, the rhythm section supplying the initial propulsion, before the track changes mood(s), with Mandolini flying high and bass and drums briefly reappropriating the opening groove. An enjoyable outing!