Pietro Bonelli Group
A guitarist trained in jazz/fusion with a history of intense concert activity in northern Italian clubs behind him, Pietro Bonelli offers a joyous and sunny sound, rich in Latin colours and flavours.

To realize this debut work, the Milanese musician relies on the usual members of his esteemed quartet: the pianist Mario Zara, the bassist Antonio Papagno, the drummer Luigi Scuri, the percussionist Loris Stefanuto to whom he adds, in certain tracks, the excellent trumpet player Emilio Soana and the alto saxophone of the young Guido Bombardieri which stands out with its interesting sounds and phrasing.

The tracks on the CD, mostly composed by Bonelli, show complex and versatile writing, attentive to the melodic and rhythmic aspects, and to the balance between written passages and improvisation.

Among the most successful numbers are without a doubt Tropico del Capricorn, where Soano is in the foreground with a fine horn solo and Fatal Exposure, an up-tempo jazz number with Latin influences characterized by the arabesque guitar of Bonelli.

With regard to the guitar aspect, Bonelli, who predominantly uses a semiacoustic instrument with a slightly darker and clearly Jazz sound, with which he alternates sharper, almost rocky sounds in certain tracks, is the author of extremely measured solo performances which are designed to enhance the architectural sense of each song.

In Igapo, the final song of the CD, the guitarist, alone, with an acoustic instrument, performs a brief sketch which combines melodic fragments with curious harmonic abstractions.

Stefano Galvani