'The Long Line' is a concept album from pianists Massimiliano Coclite and Stefano Travaglini whose unique synergy produces a kind of improvisation they call 'instant composition', often inspired by an eclectic range of classical works.
'Garden of Delights' was inspired by one of the 'Four Temperaments (Sanguinisch)' by Hindemith; 'Querendo dan�ar' takes inspiration from a 'Giga' by John Bull from the 'Fitzwilliam Virginal Book'; and 'Folk song, Clowns and Litany' is a piano transposition of the compositional ideas found in Stravinsky's 'Trois pieces pour quatuor a cordes'. 'The Long Line' is an original composition, its title deriving from a quote by Copland, who was in turn influenced by the compositional message of his teacher Nadia Boulanger (in 'La Grande Ligne'): Music must always flow, for that is part of its very essence, but the creation of that continuity and flow � that long line � constitutes the be-all and end-all of every composer's existence.
The remaining songs are free improvisations, each based on a musical gesture, in which the two performers end up alternating hands and even, in 'Opsis', playing directly on the piano strings. There is also a crepuscular arrangement of 'Body and Soul', a jazz standard which acknowledges the duo's love of African-American music.
Massimiliano Coclite is a true polymath, an acclaimed pianist and singer whose first Odradek Jazz album, 'Strange People', was praised for its Very beautiful music� with an enormously emotional charisma, calm, restrained narrative and with that certain magic that invites us to dream� (Musik an sich). Described as a wondrously eclectic talent in Jazz Journal, Stefano Travaglini is a pianist and composer specialising in uniting diverse musical styles.
