Street Songs: Mario Pavone
[PSR#070713]
PERSONNEL
Mario Pavone – bass
Peter Madsen – piano
Steve Johns – drums
Dave Ballou – trumpet
Carl Testa – 2nd bass
Adam Matlock – accordion
TRACKS
1. Elkna
2. Streetsong
3. Cobalt Stories
4. Short Story
5. Alban Berg
6. Mythos
7. The Dom
8. Deez
9. Eyto
about
Playscape Recordings is proud to release "Street Songs" (PSR #070713), lead by veteran bassist/composer Mario Pavone, along with trumpeter Dave Ballou, pianist Peter Madsen, Steve Johns on drums and newcomers Carl Testa on bass and Adam Matlock on accordion. Following Pavone's last CD, Arc Trio, recorded live at the Cornelia Street Cafe in New York City, Pavone goes back into the studio with "Street Songs", recorded at Firehouse 12 Recording Studio in nearby New Haven, Connecticut. Pavone, inspired by his early memories of "stoop music" while growing up in the multicultural melting pot of Waterbury, Connecticut, pays tribute to the street-level music that influenced him in his early years. "Street Songs" features two bassists - a first for Pavone - and satisfies his long-standing desire to add accordion to the mix. "I've always wanted to do something with accordion, a reflection of my growing up in post-WWII industrial Waterbury, Connecticut," writes Pavone. "I can still recall the sound of those Italian, Portuguese and Polish accordions--that front stoop music." Street Songs includes five new compositions by Pavone and four additional arrangements by trumpeter Dave Ballou as well as past collaborator/trumpeter Steven Bernstein.
 
 
Reviews
... mercurial ideas, seasoned with lots of interplay and the serendipitous spirit of dance.
— Owen McNally, Hartford Courant
Pavone favors an intricate weave to his music with tight turns on "Streetsong," a sly and squiggly dance between players "Cobalt Stories," but also an urbane sense of swing.
— Mark Corroto, allaboutjazz.com
Mario Pavone, as both a player and composer, never sells his audience short; instead, he creates stimulating music that is fresh, forceful and filled with life.
— Richard Kamins, Step Tempest
The oblique nature of Pavone's writing encourages such adventurousness in his sidemen, engendering the date's Old World tonalities with a decidedly modernistic air, making Street Songs one of Pavone's most personal and evocative offerings.
— Troy Collins, Point Of Departure