Track Listing

1. Dom de iludir
2. Orvieto
3. Edith
4. Brigas nunca mais
5. Il cervello del pavone
6. Un sasso nello stagno
7. Improvisation 13 en la mineur
8. Asuda
9. Joker in the village

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #3794 in Music
• Released on: 2009-09-21
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .27 pounds

The Guardian, (John Fordham), October 9, 2009
(4 stars) There are thoughtful originals from Bollani and Bodilsen here, but also an absorbing programme...highlights Bollani's startling harmonic imagination.

CD Description
'Stone in the Water' is the first of Stefano Bollani's ECM recordings to feature the Italian pianist's "Danish Trio", a group that already has six years of playing experience behind it, and produces a sound that is supple, subtle and flowing.

This exceptionally beautiful piano trio album was recorded in New York last October, with Manfred Eicher producing. Material spans original pieces by Bollani and Bodilsen, tunes by Caetano Veloso and Antonio Carlos Jobim and Poulenc's "Improvisation 13 en la mineur" - it's a wide range of material, unified by the gracefulness of Bollani's touch and the feeling of freedom in the trio playing.

Bollani is meanwhile one of the shooting stars of jazz. A major celebrity in Italy and an artist who packs halls round the world, he has won numerous international awards including the European Jazz Prize 2007.

The pianist first met bassist Jesper Bodilsen and drummer Morten Lund in 2002 when Enrico Rava won the JazzPar prize. Invited to put together an ensemble for the award shows, Rava chose Bollani as one of his fellow soloists, while the prize committee proposed Bodilsen/Lund for the rhythm section. As Bollani recalls, "We had such a great time that we wanted to continue, as a trio." Bollani's ECM recordings with Rava since 2003 are 'Easy Living', 'Tati', 'The Third Man' and just recently 'New York Days' while his own album 'Piano Solo' was released in 2006.

Personnel:
Stefano Bollani (piano), Jesper Bodilsen (double-bass), Morten Lund (drums)

Customer Reviews

ECM brings out the best in Bollani
The sometimes cool and laid-back ECM aesthetic may not be to the taste of all listeners, but I for one am strongly convinced that label boss Manfred Eicher manages to get the best out of the brilliant and often frustrating talent that is Stefano Bollani. That was true for his collaboration with trumpeter Enrico Rava on The Third Man last year. And it is true for 'Stone in the Water', Bollani's first trio outing for ECM, on which he is partnered by Jesper Bodilsen and Morten Lund (both from Denmark) on bass and drums resepctively.

Partnered is the right word here. In some of his work for other labels Bollani's prodigious technique and encyclopaedic knowledge of not just jazz piano can be coupled with a clownishness and effusiveness which is rather arch. Here there is real interaction going on between the members of the trio, who engage with each other sensitively and dynamically here and there is a lovely free quality to the playing. With his long and soaring improvised lines, Bollani clearly shows the influence of Jarrett, but the harmonic inventiveness that underpins these are all Bollani and there is no mistaking his fluid touch at the keyboard, with plenty of drive in reserve for when it is needed. Bollani has played a lot of Brazilian music recently ('Falando de Amor', 'Carioca') and there is a strong Latin influence here. That is apparent on tracks by Caetano Veloso ('Dom de Iludir') and Jobim ('Brigas nunca mai'), but some of the other tracks have a Latin feel too, such as Bodilsen's 'Orvieto' or Bollani's 'Asuda'. Other highlights include a version of Franis Poulenc's 'Improvisation 13' which also has a strong Latin or at least Mediterranean feel to it.

This is so good it has not been out of my CD player for a week. Maybe it is just that Bollani is really starting to mature as a musician. At any rate, if the other releases the ECM is serving up on the occasion of its fortieth anniversary are as compelling as this, then we are in for a great party!

The Prodigal Son Comes of Age
There is little to add to the excellent above review. Notwithstanding his association with Enrico Rava, this is Bollani's most satisfying performance yet and a marked improvement from his previous solo outing which, while blessed with brilliance, was uneven and occasionally indulgent while at other times Bollani's talents were not best displayed on fare such Joplin's "Maple Leaf Rag".

While "Stone in the Water" is hardly groundbreaking, it is uniformly excellent, Bollani having matured as a composer and the breadth of material (bassist Jesper Bodilsen contributes two compositions and there are sympathetic interpretations of compositions by Caetono Veloso, Jobim and Poulenc0. The interaction between the three instruments is wonderful, Bodilsen's bass paying is melodic and sprightly, while Morten Lund's percussion supple and impressionistic. These two have been described as Denmark's premier rhythm section but, despite having each played with a host of luminaries and apparently appeared on approximately 100 albums each, Remarkably, this is their ECM debut. One hopes that it will be the first of many. Although it is difficult to call, the highlight is perhaps Bollani's "Il Cervello del pavone" which ebbs and flows with Bollani's playing at once gorgeously fluid, and then more edgy. Highly recommended.