|
contents | jazz | |||||||||||||
| Harmonica Virtuoso Enrico Granafei's "IT'S HARD TO SAY GOODBYE" IT'S HARD TO SAY GOODBYE, by harmonica virtuoso, classical guitarist, singer, songwriter, arranger, and composer ENRICO GRANAFEI, is a collection of Latin-inflected jazz tunes featuring Granafei's soulful harmonica playing. The album is Italy native Granafei's fourth U.S. release, including Nothing but the Truth, In Search of the 3rd Dimension, and Alone Together, which reached #1 on the JazzWeek radio chart. Granafei has been living in New York City for many years where he is a regular on the city's jazz scene. He brought on board for this project musicians known for their proficiency with a wide range of musical styles, particularly Brazilian rhythms. The late CLAUDIO RODITI (flugelhorn) and MIKE LONGO (piano) make special guest appearances. IT'S HARD TO SAY GOODBYE was recorded over a period of time and features three different rhythm sections, including NEIL ALEXANDER (keyboards) and AMINA FIGAROVA (piano/ keyboards/Fender Rhodes). The bassists are TAKASHI OTSUKA, CHRISTIAN FABIAN, and GREG JONES. GORDON LANE, SYLVIA CUENCA, and RICHIE MORALES are on drums, with additional rhythm provided by DIEGO LOPEZ (tambourine) and ANNETTE AGUILAR (percussion). Granafei studied classical guitar in Italy at the Conservatory of l'Aquila, and after graduating, moved to Germany, where he lived for a couple of years playing music and teaching guitar. After returning to Italy, he moved to Rome and discovered Toots Thieleman's album Infinity. He was so smitten by the beauty of the music that he began teaching himself jazz harmonica, eventually becoming good enough to perform in top jazz clubs throughout Italy. He also landed a year-long gig playing in the orchestra of a very popular Italian television show. He says, "No one else in Italy played jazz harmonica back then, and every week I had 45 seconds of glory on national television as I got to play a short solo on every show." His love of jazz led him to New York City, where he soon began performing at The Blue Note, Birdland, and the Bottom Line, playing with marquee names in jazz. In the early 1990s, he enrolled in the Manhattan School of Music to further his studies of jazz harmonica; however, he ran into one problem: there had never been any harmonica students at the school and, naturally, no jazz harmonica teachers. He didn't think his application would be approved, but because several members of the admittance panel were fellow musicians with whom he had performed, he was accepted to the program. Still in need of a teacher, Granafei called Toots Thielemans, who was living in New York at the time. Although Thielemans and Granafei had met briefly in Italy, he was reluctant to take on a student because of his busy touring schedule. But Granafei persuaded him, and working around Thielemans' schedule, he received a master's degree in jazz performance in 1992. Since then, Granafei has performed extensively on the chromatic harmonica around the U.S. and continues to be a featured musician in major festivals and jazz clubs in Finland, Estonia, France, Italy, and Hungary. He has recorded with Eddie Gomez, Eliot Zigmund, Marc Johnson, Adam Nussbaum, Amina Figarova, Billy Hart, Wallace Roney, Vic Juris, Dave Stryker, Ted Curson, Irio de Paula, and Nnenna Freelon, among many others. Granafei is also widely known as the co-owner of Trumpets, a major regional jazz venue located in Montclair, NJ. He performed there throughout the 1980s before ultimately purchasing the club in 1999. He operated Trumpets for 20 years, finally closing it in 2019. Granafei titled the album IT'S HARD TO SAY GOODBYE in memory of three people who were very important to him: Mike Longo, Claudio Roditi, and Toots Thielemans. The sound of his harmonica is warm and affective, befitting the poignant motif of the album. Granafei plays harmonica and guitar and composed six of the eleven tunes, singing on several of them. He opens the album with his original, "Claudinho, " a spritely, upbeat tune featuring Roditi. Other Granafei originals include the reggae tune "PIA, " an acronym for parasailing in Aruba, the bossa "L'utima cialda, " which means the last wafer, "Calabrossa, " which Granafei sings in his native Italian dialect, "What Goes Around, Comes Around, " a funky samba featuring Neil Alexander on Rhodes with Lopez and Aguilar on percussion, and "Amico, " an autobiographical song that Granafei sings in standard Italian. The other numbers on the album include "Night Train, " by Amina Figarova, "Medo De Amor, " by Vinicius de Moraes, which Granafei sings in Portuguese, and three tunes by Thielemans - his famous "Bluesette, " "To My Lady, " and the lachrymose title track, "It's Hard to Say Goodbye." Since Toots Thielemans introduced audiences to the beautiful sound of jazz harmonica, several practitioners have followed in his footsteps, but few have done so with Enrico Granafei's heart and soul. Backed by a talented group of diverse musicians, IT'S HARD TO SAY GOODBYE is an excellent introduction for anyone not familiar with Granafei's passionate harmonica playing, wistful vocals, and stirring compositions. # # # IT'S HARD TO SAY GOODBYE was released on September 6, 2024 on CAP Records and on all streaming platforms. Physical CDs will be available at www.enricogranafei.com. write your comments about the article :: © 2024 Jazz News :: home page |