(ParmaFrontiere)
With Parfois la nuit, Italian bassist/composer Roberto Bonati reaffirms his place among the most refined and imaginative figures in contemporary European jazz. This new work by his Madreperla Trio – featuring Bonati on double bass, Gabriele Fava on tenor and curved soprano saxophones, and Luca Perciballi on guitar and electronics – stands out for both its originality of conception and the striking clarity of its artistic vision.
In recent years, Bonati has focused primarily on composition and arrangement for large ensembles, exploring complex orchestral textures and extended forms. With this project, however, he returns to a more intimate dimension, distilling his symphonic experience into a trio sound that is incisive, essential, and remarkably expressive.
The ensemble itself is unconventional: a trio without piano or drums, relying instead on a subtle balance of string resonance, reed timbre, and ambient electronics. The result is a sound world that is deeply influenced by the Scandinavian school of jazz, one that Bonati knows intimately through years of collaboration with Nordic musicians, not least through the educational exchanges between the Conservatories of Parma and Oslo. This background has clearly shaped the album’s aesthetics, which combine the introspection of the North with Italian lyricism and precision.
From the very first track, the listener is drawn into a nocturnal landscape – a world of soft light, silences, and melodic fragments suspended in air. The title, Parfois la nuit, captures this atmosphere perfectly: music that breathes the stillness of darkness, where emotion arises from restraint. Fava’s saxophone tone immediately evokes the ethereal sound of Jan Garbarek, yet remains unmistakably personal in its phrasing and warmth. Perciballi’s guitar and electronics weave textures that hover between shadow and shimmer, while Bonati’s double bass provides both harmonic depth and narrative gravity.
The recording – by Simone Coen at Turangalila Studios in Cernusco Lombardone – deserves special mention: its transparency allows every nuance to emerge – the breath of the saxophone, the resonance of the bass, the subtle guitar overtones – giving the album a tactile sense of space. Each sound is placed with care, allowing the listener to perceive the trio’s interplay as if within the same room.
What makes Parfois la nuit remarkable is not just its beauty but its sense of coherence and purpose. Every note, every silence, contributes to an aesthetic that is both austere and expressive, intellectual yet intimate. Bonati has long explored the intersection between composition and improvisation, and here he achieves one of his most balanced statements: a music that is open yet meticulously shaped, reflective yet never static.
Ultimately, Parfois la nuit is an album that leaves a mark – a rare example of jazz that manages to be both conceptually rigorous and emotionally resonant. It testifies to Bonati’s deep understanding of sound as architecture and atmosphere, and to the Madreperla Trio’s ability to create a world that feels suspended between night and dawn.
A luminous, essential work – one of the most finely crafted Italian jazz releases of the year.
