Gratia Enzo Pietropaoli, Gabriele Mirabassi, Michele Rabbia, Sonus Vocum Ensemble

• 1 Ave Regina Caelorum 05:27
• 2 Ave Regina Caelorum 07:52
• 3 Ave Maria 05:05
• 4 Ave Maria 08:11
• 5 Salve Regina 07:12
• 6 Alma Redemptoris Mater 05:43
• 7 Alma Redemptoris Mater 04:57
• 8 Regina Coeli 04:58
• 9 Anti-Phone 02:13
• Total Runtime 51:38

Info for Gratia

This is a programme designed and elaborated to give life to contemporary improvisations and reinterpretations of Marian antiphons in ‘counterpoint’ or, to use jazz language, in ‘interplay’ with the performance of Gregorian chant. ‘Gratia’, a word that expresses the kind of feeling, both musical and spiritual, that is at the same time representative of the Marian universe; but it goes further and expresses a concept that can unite all cultures and all creeds, religious and otherwise.

Pietropaoli approached this work fascinated by the simplicity of the antiphons, by that minimalist writing that encloses an immense spirituality, an extremely precious and unique contrast, ancient and very modern. ‘Gratia’ aspires to demonstrate, indeed to confirm, that even the most diverse and distant languages can meet under the sign of a boundless mysticism, of a love that can, must, go beyond individual cults.

Enzo Pietropaoli, double bass, musical direction
Gabriele Mirabassi, clarinet
Michele Rabbia, percussion, live electronics
Sonus Vocum Ensemble:
Baltazar Zúñiga, vocals
Fabio Furnari, vocals
Roberto Rili, vocals

Recorded on November 3, 2020 at the Teatro Amintore Galli in Rimini

Enzo Pietropaoli
(born in 1955) is an Italian jazz bassist. Born in Genoa, lives in Rome since 1961, he debuted with the Trio Di Roma in 1975 (with Danilo Rea and Roberto Gatto).

Pietropaoli has performed or recorded with, among others, Chet Baker, Lester Bowie, Woody Shaw, Kenny Wheeler, Franco Ambrosetti, Bob Berg, Johnny Griffin, Michael Brecker, Lee Konitz, Archie Shepp, Phil Woods, Curtis Fuller, Toots Thielemans, Richard Galliano, Gianni Coscia, John Taylor, Rita Marcotulli, Cedar Walton, John Abercrombie, John Scofield, Joe Pass, Pat Metheny, Ginger Baker, Han Bennink, Billy Cobham, Kenny Clarke, Maria Pia De Vito, Norma Wynstone, Gianmaria Testa.

In 1987 with the group Lingomania; in 1988 and 1989 with Enrico Pieranunzi Space Jazz Trio; and in 1999, 2001 and 2003 with Doctor 3 group (with pianist Danilo Rea and drummer Fabrizio Sferra) he won the award for Best Italian Group following a poll by Musica Jazz magazine.

In 1998 the CD The Tales of Doctor 3 and in 1999 the CD Shades of Chet, recorded as a project of trumpeters Enrico Rava and Paolo Fresu with drummer Roberto Gatto and renowned pianist Stefano Bollani, received the "Arrigo Polillo Prize" as the "Best Italian Record of the Year". In 1999 with Doctor 3, he won the award for "Best Italian Group" following a poll by Musica Jazz magazine.

Pietropaoli has toured internationally in Italy, Germany, France, Spain, Switzerland, Austria, Luxemburg, U.K., Denmark, the Netherlands, Belgium, Russia, Serbia, Canada, U.S.A, Brasil, Senegal, Israel, China, Ethiopia, Kenya, Morocco, Tunisia, Syria, and has made more than 70 recordings.

Since 1999 he appears on Leonard Feather and Ira Gitler's Biographical Encyclopedia of Jazz.

Booklet for Gratia