By Sammy Stein
The Ava Trio comprises Giuseppe Doronzo on baritone saxophone, fluxophone,
mizmar, and gong, Esat Ekincioglu on double bass, and Pino Basile on
Cupaphon (friction drums) and percussion. They have been together for a
decade.
Their fifth album Lunae is on Tora Records, and the recording is a
wonderful, atmospheric creation, not least because of the acoustic qualities
added to the recording by it taking place in an ancient trullo in Apulia,
Southern Italy. A trullo is a conical limestone chamber that became the
band’s fourth instrument in the recording, with its echoes and
reverberations sent back to the musicians.
Recorded in Apulia, southern Italy, inside a centuries-old trullo — a
conical limestone chamber that became the band’s fourth instrument. Lunae is a site-specific, archeo-musicological exploration of sound and space. The
album evolved from Doronzo’s composition ‘Sabbatical.’
Across six lunar phases, the three musicians trace forgotten moon rituals
where sound and silence return in cycles or phases.
The opening phase (Phasis 1) is an extensive exploration of mostly
percussive sounds, from the plucked bass to the percussion and sax
intonations, the sound circling and returning in a complex pattern, often
the phrasing interweaving with the next phrase as it is issued. The effect
is intense and deeply evocative. The way the chamber echoes the sound back
sounds primal, naturalist, and powerful.
Phasis II is shorter, but no less atmospheric, with more saxophone, adding
to the vibrations and intensity of the texturally layered sound depths. The
double bass and saxophone inadvertently (or deliberately) cross paths both
in notation and tone, creating areas where the tone is incredibly rich and
the unrelenting percussive element from both strings and drums is mesmeric.
Phase III is atmospheric, with sustained notes creating suspension and
plinky, warping sonic effects, while Phasis IV is a continuation of Phasis
III but transcends into a more melodic exploration at times, underpinned
with rasping strings, and pithy sax. Phasis V is a slow build, but once it
evolves out of the void, it is superb, and Phasis VI continues the
exploration of percussion, deep bass, and other-worldly effects.
Full Moon, November AD 283
Beneath the moon’s gaze,
olive-oil workers gather in secret,
within the limestone walls of a trullo.
Their chants and rhythms spiral upward,
a devotion carved in sound,
vanishing into the night yet circling forever
Because of its unique sonic actions and the provision of textures and
resonance by the very chamber of the recording, it is difficult to describe
exactly the effect this music has. Played by the trio alone, the sound would
be intriguing and, as always, an explorative listen, but coupled with the
characteristics imparted by the limestone chamber, which feels like it
absorbs the sound and then throws it back changed, the listening experience
is incredible.