GABRIELE ORSI - MR.T. (2007)

All compositions written by Gabriele Orsi, except for “Ba-lue bolivar ba-lues-are” and “Reflection” by Thelonious Monk

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review by Paul J. Youngman - KJA Advocate for VINILEMANIA.NET

Italian guitarist Gabriele Orsi has put out a compact disc entitled Mr. T. Many in North America when thinking of Mr. T., will remember a muscular fellow with a Mohawk hairdo and sporting plenty of heavy gold jewelry. A super hero from a show called the A-Team. They are not likely to think of the super hero pianist Thelonious Spere Monk of whom Mr. Orsi refers to in his CD that pays tribute to T.S. Monk. There are only two Monk compositions, “Blue Bolivar Blues”, which Mr. Orsi has taken the liberty of renaming “Ba-lue Bolivar ba-lues-are” and “Reflection”.

The Hammond B3 specialist Joey De Francesco guests on three of the ten tracks including “Blue Bolivar Blues”. Original compositions that play on a Monk theme are “Barba e cappello” (Beard and hat) and “Orsi Blue” a modified “Blue Monk”. This is an easy listening, pleasant jazz album in a hard bop style. Mr. Orsi has great support in the swinging rhythm section of Daniele Petrosillo (double bass), Francesco Di Lenge (drums) and Fulvio Ferrari (piano). The solid support allows Orsi to showcase his guitar playing, a guitarist of considerable talent.

The opener “Bluesonius” (get the connection to Monk’s “Thelonious”) other than they are both blues based songs, that’s where the connection ends. Orsi’s composition is played in double time. The guitar licks come with rapid fluency, catchy runs, fast scales and when not flying over the fret board he produces grand chords that help maintain a rich, full sound. The song credits don’t list a bass player, but the bass is very solid in this tune and the rhythm section swings wildly in support of both Orsi and B3 ace Joey De Francesco.

Mr. Orsi’s rendition of “Reflection” is very pretty. A guitar and piano duet, the guitar in a tremolo tone that is bright. Orsi uses very few full chords, he prefers to carry the melody through single notes. The pianist Fulvio Ferrari plays rounded chords with full sustain and provides wonderful accompaniment to this delightful song, adding the occasional Monk like phrase to grand effect.

On the composition “Prima” Gabriele Orsi plays solo. A melancholy ballad with flowing lines of blistering guitar licks offset by enchanting chords. The song is short just under three minutes. It opens with strong chords and single note melody, a mellower tone is utilized to create a blue mood. More dynamics are incorporated, as the song builds through the use of faster guitar runs, with stronger accents on the chords. Gradually coming around to the ending with well voiced single note runs, slight pauses and longer sustain for the chords. 

The title track is a cooker, another swinging tune with a great walking bass line from Daniele Petrosillo and flowing, swing drumming from Di Lenge. The guitar playing of Orsi comes on strong, fast and powerful. He takes a couple of solo’s on the song, one in the intro and one on the exit. Joey De Francesco solo’s throughout the body of the tune, his playing is inspired and Monk like. He is soloing under the guitar playing with some excellent lines that are really a standout performance. When breakout time comes, he plays with passion. De Francesco has excellent phrasing and great dynamics that give a constant push and exude great energy.

Mr. T. concludes with “Gira, gira, gira” a blues-rock feel. A trippy song that is all over the place as far as dynamics go. A little fusion, a little funk, some great boogie woogie piano and a steady straight four - drum beat. This is the only song that really gets away from the theme of Master T. S. Monk’s music.