Luca Calabrese - 2024 - I Shin Den Shin
(69:00; Moonjune Records)
It is not possible to overstate the importance of Leonardo Pavkovic in the world of jazz and avant garde music, as while most labels look to sign artists who they believe will make them lots of money, Leo instead has a musical itch to scratch, part of which can only be relieved by putting different musicians together and seeing what happens. That is the case here, as yet again he has brought together some people to plug in at La Casa Murada. Markus Reuter (Touch Guitar AU8, Soundscapes) and Alexander Dowerk (Touch Guitar S8) are no strangers to each other, performing in both Anchor and Burden and Tonnen von Hall, while Reuter and Mark Wingfield (electric guitar) have already recorded together in this studio. Added to these are Nguyên Lê on electric guitar and Luca Calabrese on Pocket Trumpet, so, in short, we have four guitarists working to create soundscapes and dreamscapes and cutting through it all is a trumpet, with everyone composing live with all of this being completed in one day in September 2022.
With all the treatments taking place against the guitars, two of which are Touch Guitars, it feels almost as if we are adrift on a cloud of sound which is more akin to keyboards with long held-down chords, and it is against this that the clarity of the trumpet shines through. Calabrese is no stranger to the progressive scene, as not only is he a member of the wonderful Isildurs Bane, but he has also recorded albums with the likes of Steve Hogarth, Peter Hammill and Richard Barbieri. The breath control and clarity he provides is simply wonderful as here is not a musician out to prove he can play faster than the rest but is very much in tune with what is taking place around him. “I-shin-den-shin” is a Japanese concept that describes a form of communication that transcends spoken words, relying on unspoken understanding, empathy, and shared feelings. The term is often translated as "what the mind thinks, the heart transmits" or "a heart-to-heart transmission." It encapsulates the idea that emotions and thoughts can be conveyed and understood without the need for explicit verbal communication.
It sums this album up so very accurately, as while it feels ambient for the most part with the layering of sounds, and the trumpet then cutting through, there has been no need for conversation or rehearsal as this is music from the heart, from the soul. Yet another essential release from Moonjune.
Kev Rowland, March 2025
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