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Actis Band

Allende

Leo Records CD LR 462

Anyone who has even a nodding acquaintance with contemporary Italian jazz will know what to expect from an Actis band: from the largest units in which he takes part (the Instabile Orchestra) to the smallest (his small-group work and the odd duo) Carlo Actis Dato is a uniquely galvanising force, his music embracing all manner of rhythms of the world, not to mention all manner of textures and moods, and forging them into something peculiarly Italian, immediately recognisable as Dato music.

On this quintet album, which features the alto/soprano player Massimo Rossi and guitarist Karsten Lipp alongside Dato's tenor, baritone and bass clarinet, Dato utilises his favourite, trademark galloping rhythms, emerging here as rock spearheaded by Lipp's electric guitar, there as free-ish jazz led by abrasive baritone or treacly, querulous bass clarinet, in other places as a slow shuffle or a frantic tarantella-like hurtle towards no-holds-barred musical climaxes.

This irresistiby infectious straightforward knees-up quality to his music, however, is never allowed to stifle either his or his band's undoubted virtuosity: Dato's solos, in particular, are gems of imaginative, multi-textured brio, and although his music is best experienced live, album such as this are none the less welcome, lively, vigorous and unequivocally enjoyable as they are.