Francesco Covarino: Olive
[TLM011]
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short improvisations on drums & percussion.
Francesco Covarino: drums & percussion. Granada, September 23rd, 2016. Recorded, mixed and mastered by Marcos Muniz. .......................................................................... Limited edition of 100 CDs in hand-made & numbered paper gatefolds + Digital Album (FLAC recommended). Includes 2 bonus tracks. Total: 16 tracks, 31'30". Drawings by Maria Rakitzi. Artwork design by moody alien & Francesco Covarino. Packaging design by Pat Kiout Productions. ............................................................ Olive is my first solo release, and it features 16 short drum improvisations, recorded in a big room in an industrial area in Granada, with trucks maneuvering and machinery noises happening right outside the door. Everything was recorded live in a single session, from about 11am to 6pm, without any editing or overdubs. [...] Anyway, this music was recorded on September 23rd, 2016. My wife was pregnant with our first daughter, who we were expecting any day. In the first sonogram, she was just a little thing, the size and shape of an olive, so “Olive” was the name we used to refer to her during almost the entire pregnancy. While recording this music, I was thinking, "When my daughter grows up she will listen to this and think: ‘This is what my dad was like when I was about to be born’." --Francesco Covarino-- .................................................................................................. released October 17, 2017. ℗ & © Thirsty Leaves Music |
REVIEWS.
"September 23rd, 2016. Somewhere in Granada. An important event about to take place. Isolated in a circumscribed space, Francesco Covarino momentarily dissolves his partnership with Alessandro Incorvaia to let his feelings flow into his first solo work.
'Olive' features fourteen improvisations recorded over a single session, short sketches with a strong narrative character made of spare rhythmic sequences and absolutely not inclined to pointless virtuoso displays. Every single note is chosen with care and is allowed the necessary space to resonate with each phrasing. Everything flows by concisely and without hurry, yet an expressive urgency emerges that aims to essentiality by reducing speed and density. Only for short stretches the music abandons its warm and placid flow to turn into more nervous and torrential streaks ("olive 85", "olive 55"), but they quickly converge towards an imaginary world made of soft colors and soft nuances.
A percussive album of overwhelming delicacy, full of the profound and precious influence of an imminent paternity."
So What (in italian)
. . .
"The standard approach with drums is having them anchor everything else, there’s also a tendency to insert dramatic flourishes in one’s playing so as to let people know who’s the engine. Francesco is not one of these types; no big runs through the toms nor are you going to come across a 30 or 40 piece kit. I have known some drummers in my time and let me tell you, this guy’s humility is a rare trait to come across.
He doesn’t give you anything on this record except his playing. No singer, no wailing guitars and no bassist simmering in the background with their six strings primed for a fusion solo.
In a manner quite incompatible with a lot of others out there he zeroes in on one element of his array per piece and then gets into it right down to the barest of expression. [...] Covarino really likes his silence, the pauses between sounds are no doubt there to add dynamics and increase the level of atmosphere. But for all the experimenting going on you can feel a subtle investigation of recognized time signatures which is interesting to contrast against the expressive playing he demonstrates for us. It’s easy to dismiss this as primordial noodling about until you’ve listened closely to how these pieces are put together.
This one is working off of instinct.
[...] There are no discernible overdubs, so these are one-take tracks. The amount of discipline required to do that is remarkable, apparently random yet absolutely precise work even down to the exact date it was completed."
Peter Marks for Santa Sangre
. . .
"[...] Drums here and drums there; Francesco Covarino simply drums the whole album full but does it in a way that it is clearly him playing at his very best. Showcasing skill, talent and creativity one beat after a rhythmic other.
On September 23rd, 2016 he recorded it surprisingly all in one go, from 11am to 6pm, somewhere in Granada, and released it without any editing or overdubs; proving to anyone who listens that he is one of the healthiest drummers out there, one true artist who can play with a full on enthusiasm and tightness, a creative individual whose drums are a true extension of his mindful imagination. The brain to arm – hand coordination is superb, with each track being creatively different, his passion truly come to life on here! [...]"
KN for Yeah I know It Sucks
. . .
"[...] Olive is a unique treat. While it may not satisfy Covarino’s recently enhanced financial responsibilities, it is a genuine accomplishment. Despite its limited instrumentation, the album is a varied and often surprising listen.
[...] The world is full of skilled drummers. A small minority however could pull off anything close to Olive. Covarino deserves our warm congratulations – twice over."
Kevin Press for Badd Press
. . .
"Fantastic fresh and original percussive morse-codes in praise of all the unborn, the yet to be born and those who are about to arrive today, tomorrow or any other time in space-time. "Au bord interne ou au bord externe, c'est une hétérodidactique entre vie et mort"(Derrida). Evokes vivid memories of John Cage's 'Three Constructions in Metal'. [...] One of my favorite percussive events this year !"
SKG for Noise/Admiration
. . .
"With a loose, improvised spirit Francesco Covarino engages in a playful tactile spirit on the joyous “Olive”. Things are kept to the absolute essentials. Forgoing melody and traditional rhythm, these pieces go for a full exploration of texture. Elements of groove are merely afterthoughts for everything revolves around a keen sense of adventure. Dramatic to its very core, Francesco Covarino successfully surprises the listener with both grand gestures alongside small flourishes. Dwelling in a balance between these two impulses, Francesco Covarino leaves a lot to chance over the course of the album, letting no two pieces sound exactly the same. Instead, by giving things a mixture of rock and jazz into the proceedings there is nothing certain about anything.
[...]
Francesco Covarino embraces a freeform sense of defiance on the energetic “Olive”."
Beach Sloth
. . .
"Francesco Covarino's 'Olive' are detailed solo excursions, which follow the two fine rhythmic-environmental intersections with Alessandro Incorvaia.
Precisely from the most recent of these ('Granada', 2017) take just the moves the fourteen fragments that make up the work, the result of improvisations made in the same Andalusian city and deliberately recorded in outdoor settings. Not only the background noises have thus become an integral part of Covarino's impromptu performances, but the outer space has itself acted as the in(de)finite theater for the resonances of his percussion.
Jazzy timbres, thrills of "post-" tension and, above all, decompositions of time signatures and frequencies populate the entire short course of 'Olive', combining the vibrations of a changing spatial dimension with the equally variable nature of dynamics at times dry and austere, at times muffled and sometimes even delicate. A new demonstration of the ductility of the means and the pure instinct of the artist."
Raffaello Russo for Music Won't Save You (in italian)
. . .
"[...] Covarino has a very inviting style, and despite only percussive instruments at his disposal, subtle melodies reveal themselves willingly along with the rhythms. A half hour divided into 16 bite-sized morsels, Olive has a vignetted quality as Covarino transitions fluidly through different dispositions. The first four track sequence is case in point. The CD begins meekly, quiet enough that you'll be turning that volume knob up a little more then expected, then the second track ("oliva#56") thunders through with loud, rousing tom hits, leading into the third track ("oliva#85") which gets the rhythm rolling faster seguing perfectly into "oliva#30" which is quite evocative and moody. That's only the beginning of Olive's story, Covarino guides you down several invigorating pathways for the full 31 minutes. Excellent recording and mastering make this a delight on the stereo, unusually pleasant to relax and soak in for a solo-percussion effort. [...]"
Auxiliary Out
. . .
"[...] a collection of 16 short improvisations for drums and percussion. The entirely self-taught Covarino filmed them on a single day, September 23, 2016 between 11:00 and 18:00 in an vacant large warehouse in the industrial zone, spontaneously, without edits or any additional adjustments. At that time, his wife was in advanced pregnancy with her first daughter. On the first sonogram she looked like an olive. They called her that throughout her pregnancy. Hence the album title. "My intention was to play softly, slowly, freely, and to play only a few notes, the less, the better," the protagonist said. [...]"
Jan Hocek for JazzPort.cz (in czech)
. . .
"September 23rd, 2016. Somewhere in Granada. An important event about to take place. Isolated in a circumscribed space, Francesco Covarino momentarily dissolves his partnership with Alessandro Incorvaia to let his feelings flow into his first solo work.
'Olive' features fourteen improvisations recorded over a single session, short sketches with a strong narrative character made of spare rhythmic sequences and absolutely not inclined to pointless virtuoso displays. Every single note is chosen with care and is allowed the necessary space to resonate with each phrasing. Everything flows by concisely and without hurry, yet an expressive urgency emerges that aims to essentiality by reducing speed and density. Only for short stretches the music abandons its warm and placid flow to turn into more nervous and torrential streaks ("olive 85", "olive 55"), but they quickly converge towards an imaginary world made of soft colors and soft nuances.
A percussive album of overwhelming delicacy, full of the profound and precious influence of an imminent paternity."
So What (in italian)
. . .
"The standard approach with drums is having them anchor everything else, there’s also a tendency to insert dramatic flourishes in one’s playing so as to let people know who’s the engine. Francesco is not one of these types; no big runs through the toms nor are you going to come across a 30 or 40 piece kit. I have known some drummers in my time and let me tell you, this guy’s humility is a rare trait to come across.
He doesn’t give you anything on this record except his playing. No singer, no wailing guitars and no bassist simmering in the background with their six strings primed for a fusion solo.
In a manner quite incompatible with a lot of others out there he zeroes in on one element of his array per piece and then gets into it right down to the barest of expression. [...] Covarino really likes his silence, the pauses between sounds are no doubt there to add dynamics and increase the level of atmosphere. But for all the experimenting going on you can feel a subtle investigation of recognized time signatures which is interesting to contrast against the expressive playing he demonstrates for us. It’s easy to dismiss this as primordial noodling about until you’ve listened closely to how these pieces are put together.
This one is working off of instinct.
[...] There are no discernible overdubs, so these are one-take tracks. The amount of discipline required to do that is remarkable, apparently random yet absolutely precise work even down to the exact date it was completed."
Peter Marks for Santa Sangre
. . .
"[...] Drums here and drums there; Francesco Covarino simply drums the whole album full but does it in a way that it is clearly him playing at his very best. Showcasing skill, talent and creativity one beat after a rhythmic other.
On September 23rd, 2016 he recorded it surprisingly all in one go, from 11am to 6pm, somewhere in Granada, and released it without any editing or overdubs; proving to anyone who listens that he is one of the healthiest drummers out there, one true artist who can play with a full on enthusiasm and tightness, a creative individual whose drums are a true extension of his mindful imagination. The brain to arm – hand coordination is superb, with each track being creatively different, his passion truly come to life on here! [...]"
KN for Yeah I know It Sucks
. . .
"[...] Olive is a unique treat. While it may not satisfy Covarino’s recently enhanced financial responsibilities, it is a genuine accomplishment. Despite its limited instrumentation, the album is a varied and often surprising listen.
[...] The world is full of skilled drummers. A small minority however could pull off anything close to Olive. Covarino deserves our warm congratulations – twice over."
Kevin Press for Badd Press
. . .
"Fantastic fresh and original percussive morse-codes in praise of all the unborn, the yet to be born and those who are about to arrive today, tomorrow or any other time in space-time. "Au bord interne ou au bord externe, c'est une hétérodidactique entre vie et mort"(Derrida). Evokes vivid memories of John Cage's 'Three Constructions in Metal'. [...] One of my favorite percussive events this year !"
SKG for Noise/Admiration
. . .
"With a loose, improvised spirit Francesco Covarino engages in a playful tactile spirit on the joyous “Olive”. Things are kept to the absolute essentials. Forgoing melody and traditional rhythm, these pieces go for a full exploration of texture. Elements of groove are merely afterthoughts for everything revolves around a keen sense of adventure. Dramatic to its very core, Francesco Covarino successfully surprises the listener with both grand gestures alongside small flourishes. Dwelling in a balance between these two impulses, Francesco Covarino leaves a lot to chance over the course of the album, letting no two pieces sound exactly the same. Instead, by giving things a mixture of rock and jazz into the proceedings there is nothing certain about anything.
[...]
Francesco Covarino embraces a freeform sense of defiance on the energetic “Olive”."
Beach Sloth
. . .
"Francesco Covarino's 'Olive' are detailed solo excursions, which follow the two fine rhythmic-environmental intersections with Alessandro Incorvaia.
Precisely from the most recent of these ('Granada', 2017) take just the moves the fourteen fragments that make up the work, the result of improvisations made in the same Andalusian city and deliberately recorded in outdoor settings. Not only the background noises have thus become an integral part of Covarino's impromptu performances, but the outer space has itself acted as the in(de)finite theater for the resonances of his percussion.
Jazzy timbres, thrills of "post-" tension and, above all, decompositions of time signatures and frequencies populate the entire short course of 'Olive', combining the vibrations of a changing spatial dimension with the equally variable nature of dynamics at times dry and austere, at times muffled and sometimes even delicate. A new demonstration of the ductility of the means and the pure instinct of the artist."
Raffaello Russo for Music Won't Save You (in italian)
. . .
"[...] Covarino has a very inviting style, and despite only percussive instruments at his disposal, subtle melodies reveal themselves willingly along with the rhythms. A half hour divided into 16 bite-sized morsels, Olive has a vignetted quality as Covarino transitions fluidly through different dispositions. The first four track sequence is case in point. The CD begins meekly, quiet enough that you'll be turning that volume knob up a little more then expected, then the second track ("oliva#56") thunders through with loud, rousing tom hits, leading into the third track ("oliva#85") which gets the rhythm rolling faster seguing perfectly into "oliva#30" which is quite evocative and moody. That's only the beginning of Olive's story, Covarino guides you down several invigorating pathways for the full 31 minutes. Excellent recording and mastering make this a delight on the stereo, unusually pleasant to relax and soak in for a solo-percussion effort. [...]"
Auxiliary Out
. . .
"[...] a collection of 16 short improvisations for drums and percussion. The entirely self-taught Covarino filmed them on a single day, September 23, 2016 between 11:00 and 18:00 in an vacant large warehouse in the industrial zone, spontaneously, without edits or any additional adjustments. At that time, his wife was in advanced pregnancy with her first daughter. On the first sonogram she looked like an olive. They called her that throughout her pregnancy. Hence the album title. "My intention was to play softly, slowly, freely, and to play only a few notes, the less, the better," the protagonist said. [...]"
Jan Hocek for JazzPort.cz (in czech)
. . .