REPERTOIRE --- Franco Donatoni  - Sweet Basil

First performance: Strasbourg 1993. Commission by Ministere de la Culture et de la Communication and Festival «Musica» Strasbourg.

Many years ago Franco Donatoni invited me to give a lesson about the tecniques of trombone at the Accademia di Santa Cecilia in Rome. After my usual «new sounds» the students were very interested in, he asked me if I could play dixiland, and then be-bop, in the style of C. Parker, cool and free jazz. At first I thought he just wanted to have fun, but I didn't wait to be asked again and I began to improvise, finding inspiration in my personal experience with jazz. When he gave me the score of Sweet Basil I realized that request wasn't so strange. The piece, in fact, was written for trombone solo and big band, and all the styles that have made the history of the jazz are prescribed for the improvised parts.

The connection with Hot is evident, but here jazz is not just a reference: it is a presence in the flesh.

(Michele Lomuto)