There is something quite unassuming about this series of improvised duets between trumpeter Mirio Cosottini and pianist Tonino Miano. Sounds seem perfectly placed without strenuous effort. There is a clear sense of two musicians being very familiar and relaxed in each other's presence. Part of this symbiosis comes from a very interesting mix of textured and melodic improv. Cosottini tends to favor the texture--growling, gurgling and shouting into his trumpet--while Miano accompanies with careful attention to chords and melodies. Every so often, the two musicians cross the axis, with pieces devoting to the scraping of each instrument's innards or to more jazz-infected duets, but when the two return to their respective corners the music glows. At points, like the closing "nebbia nebbia", the fusion is downright pretty, which is not a usual adjective for improvised music. It is nice to be reminded that pretty can happen with spontaneity, too. --Chris Kennedy, Musicworks, Summer 2009.
Miano e Cosottini sono i protagonisti di queste sette libere improvvisazioni per pianoforte e tromba, con un suono che sfiora il free europeo di marca FMP, la ricerca timbrica espressionista e il la musica “colta” dei giorni nostri. Forte è l'intesa tra i due musicisti in un interplay continuo e vivace che spazia in diversi registri, con la forte volontà di cercarsi e cercare tra i timbri del proprio mondo sonoro. Da segnalare l'ottima improvvisazione che da il titolo all'opera, che riassume la tensione musicale del duo e la propria ricerca improvvisativa, una tensione persistente per tutto il cd avvalorata da brevi melodie ricamate dal pianoforte in contrapposizione al sofferente lamento della tromba. ---Alessandro Cartolari, Live Electronics, 2009.
Brilliant trumpet & piano duo by a pair of Italian artists who have been working together for almost ten years, having had their fair share of excellent collaborations (Vinko Globokar, Zeena Parkins, Elliott Sharp, Jaap Blonk to name a few). Pianist and composer Miano lives in New York since 1993, while trumpeter Cosottini is a teacher of improvisation at the conservatory of Padua, Italy. The record is full of intense reflection, impulsive changes of mind, sinister small noises and, to end the whole in style, a beautifully melodic lullaby. Miano works a lot with the inside parts of the (prepared or less) instrument, at times recalling Keith Tippett in the use of bouncing metallic objects during the most concentrated arpeggios, contrasts between superimposed digital maneuvers and irritable, thudding low notes alternated to delicate touches of literate contrapuntal cleverness. Cosottini is one of those players who luckily tends to avoid sterile virtuosity, privileging instead the human factor of his timbre, often comparable to the voice of a wounded animal, even more frequently suspended halfway through a skeletal, hesitant explicitness and the will of joking, at any cost, with the sonic imagery just conjured up. The couple is not lacking in the sense of humour department, indeed; nevertheless, theirs is thoroughly serious music, replete with intriguing subtleties, still greatly fascinating after several consecutive listens. ---Massimo Ricci, Touching Extremes, 2008.
Sounds made by various extended techniques form one aspect of Ideal Bread’s approach; they are the core of the approach of the duo of trumpeter Mirio Cosottini and pianist Tonino Miano. Cosottini never seems to hit a note square. Rather he squeezes them out, barks them even. The notes splatter like fat rain drops on hot pavement. His tone is a breathy cry at times, a lyrical sigh. Miano moves from the outside to the inside of the piano. However, such a range of techniques often does not result in a corresponding variety in the music. That’s where Miano and Cosottini stand out. Each of the seven pieces in their short recital has a focus. The aptly titled “Rushdash” is just that. “The Hunt” offers ethereal string work by the pianist. “Nine Years Ago” has the pianist playing a stately chorale, while the trumpet comments wildly with demented mutterings over top. “Dialoghi di Traverso” is a jabbing affair that ends with an abrupt tutti. “Barcarolle” has Cosottini sputtering short phrases while Miano pops and plucks the strings. The title piece has the piano asserting itself with the trumpet probing at the edges. “Nebbia Nebbia” ends the session on a delicate note. With a child-like waltz quietly ringing from the piano and the trumpet whines, evoking several members of the animal kingdom and an alien from outer space. David Dupont, Cadence Magazine, 789/08.
Estreia da Impressus Records com um título do pianista italiano Tonino Miano, fundador da editora, músico que toca e ensina em Nova Iorque desde 1993. Miano, em duo com o trompetista Mirio Cosottini, do Music Improvisation Research Group (GRIM). O ambiente de The Curvature of Pace (curioso trocadilho com a curvatura do espaço, da teoria da Relatividade de Einstein, que, metendo a força gravitacional ao barulho, recusou a ideia euclidiana de espaço-tempo plano) é de pura improvisação livre, por dois músicos que se conheceram encontraram há cerca de uma década, gravaram esta sessão. À época, a opção foi deixá-la “estagiar” durante uns anos, para depois ouvir como soaria. Tempo passado sobre o registo, a música revela-se fresca, inventiva e exploratória de uma grande variedade de registos. Um tipo de experiência que estimula e desafia o ouvinte, através da projecção a várias velocidades de imagens sonoras fora do vulgar, contínuas e fracturadas. Sons ácidos de trompete combinam com o pendor mais melódico do piano, num agridoce cativante. Quanto mais se ouve mais se gosta. – Eduardo Chagas, Jazz e Arredores, June 2008.
The first release on the pianist and composer Tonino Miano's new Impressus label is a like-minded, far ranging and imaginative duo with trumper Mirio Cosottini. – Squidco, May 2008.
MIRIO COSOTTINI - TONINO MIANO The Curvature of Pace (Impressus Records): Der inzwischen in der Bronx lebende Pianist Miano kollaboriert hier mit einem alten Bekannten, dem Trompeter Cosottini, mit dem er vor 9 Jahren schon Lorenzo Bruscis L’ultimo animale, sullo Zarathustra eingespielt hat. Cosottini, der 2007 die Musik zur TV-Dokumentation And They Came to Chicago: The Italian American Legacy beisteuerte, ist nicht nur studierter Philosoph, sondern auch Mitbegründer der GRIM (Music Improvisation Research Group), die das umweltfreundlich in Recyclingkarton verpackte Debut auf Mianos eigenem Label unterstützte. Nach dem Uptempoeinstieg mit ‚rushdash‘ zeigen die beiden mit ‚the hunt‘ ihr Faible für phantastische Lautmalerei, mit gepressten Trompetenglissandos, rauem Stöhnen und spotzendem Schimpfen dazu kommen spitze, gespenstische Schleiftöne aus dem Innenklavier und trippelnde Treppenflucht auf den Tasten. Wer jagt in diesem Mad Movie wen? Bei ‚nine years ago‘ agiert Cosottini mit theatralischer Überblasvokalisation, während sein Partner besinnliche Erinnerungen perlt. Die ‚dialoghi di traversa‘ entwickeln sich im munteren Kontrast, umso verzagter und trister klingt die anschließende ‚barcarolle‘ im Nieselregen, bis das Getröpfel so stark wird, dass die beiden die Beine unter den Arm nehmen. Nach dem schräg umeinander kurvenden, verschnatterten, gehämmerten Titelstück setzt ‚nebbia nebbia‘ den allerzartesten Schlusspunkt, das Klavier betthupferlt die quängelige Trompete in den Schlaf. Finger weg, Berlusconi! [BA 58 rbd]. Bad Alchemy, May 2008.
"Featuring Mirio Cosottini on trumpet and Tonino Miano on piano. I can't tell you anything about this most impressive Italian duo, except that one of them dropped us off a few copies recently. Being too busy with certain store responsibilities, Manny made me check this out and I'm glad he did. If I didn't know better, I would think that this is Nate Wooley and Sylvie Courvoisier, perhaps. This is an inventive and well-matched duo that likes to push each into some intense and often tight-knit areas. Sometimes the piano has that eerie, dreamy effect, like we are drifting into another world. On "The Hunt," it sounds as if Tonino is rubbing something inside the piano, rather Denman Maroney-like while Mirio plays those twisted, fractured trumpet sounds. The combination of that mesmerizing bowed piano and small trumpet fragments is just right, quietly cosmic and somehow charming. Sometimes they slow things down to a snail's pace so we can notice the textures of each note and sometimes they bring in bits of haunting melodies. Thanks Manny, for twisting my arm, it was well worth it. - BLG" – Downtown Music Gallery, April 2008.
Mirio Cosottini/Tonino Miano - THE CURVATURE OF PACE: All the way from Italy comes this very enjoyable CD full of full-blown piano/trumpet improvisations from Mirio (trumpet) and Tonino (piano). The intro, "Rushdash", is light/airy, with (as the title implies) a real "movement" to it. The second piece, "The Hunt", is more sparse, definitely haunting, & full of strange oddistry. After a solid third listen to the entire album, I found that my favorite track was "Nine Years Ago", probably because of the well-recorded piano... contrasts abound on this composition, too, with breath-tones galore from Cosottini's trumpet providing counterpoint to the sweet sounds from Miano's keyboard. Suffice it to say that it won't be (exactly) what you expected... of course if you are a dedicated fan of improvisation, you wouldn't want it to be anything less, right? Very exploratory and rewarding musical experience, especially for listeners who refuse to accept "normal" in their adventures. I give this a HIGHLY RECOMMENDED for any and all who want to hear the music of tomorrow - today! Get more information at http://cdbaby.com/cd/cosottinimiano Rotcod Zzaj – Improvijazzation Nation, Issue #81, April 2008.
