Sounds from the jellyfish...

The band's name "radiata", is a word which describes a common symmetry in the Animal's Realm, and the fact that this album is entitled to a jellyfish famous for the quaterfoil on its top may indicate something.

First of all, the absence of symmetry.

This work is very experimental, as often happens when the vocalist Claudio Milano is involved. The vocal research is an important part of this album, and as another reviewer has underlined, it's not distant from the experiments that Demetrio Stratos was doing in the 70s, also because Claudio Milano is one of the very few vocalists in the world who has the possibility to sing in that way. Bass, Cello, Trumpet and Sax complete the quintet with the first two providing tempo and rhythm, when those two words have a sense, and trumpet, sax and voice providing a bit of structure in what appears to be a set of skillful improvisations.

Improvisations over lyrics written by the bassist. One thing for all, for Italian speakers, a title like "Bile dal Po" (Gall from the Po) hits like a hammer. The Po river is the longest and one of the most polluted rivers of Italy and it has always had an important place in the Country's history.

The music is anvant-jazz, experimental, but not too much challenging. It's basicly jazz and Claudio's vocals are the most avantgarde element, also because of his capacity to modulate his voice like an instrument. I've been surprised to hear what he does for just few seconds at minute 3 of "Planula Larvae", as I have heard that kind of vocals only from Stratos in "Concerto all'Elfo" before. From this album Planula Larvae is the track that I prefer, probably because it's the one closer to my tastes.

Listening to this album I can't not think to how a modern ballet based on it could be, or even a light show.

Diploblastic deserves a mention for the bass line on which the other instruments (except the cello in this case) to create an ideal atmosphere able to transport the listener in their world. Let's also mention the incredible vocal performance on "Echinoderms", the first minutes of "Radially Symmetrical Cnidarians" halfway between contemporary classics and a mantra and finally the closing track "(C)Tenophores" with bass and cello giving a "beat" to the other three high-pitched instruments for the first three minutes, then on a cello crescendo there's another impressive vocal part, then silence and another "movement" comes. This music is hard to describe, so I can just close this review saying that it's a kind of contemporary art that requires headphones and concentration. Take your time and give it repetitive listens so to catch all the shades brought in by the various instruments. "Technical" listeners will also appreciate the great skill of the band's members.

Enjoy.

Listening to Claudio Milano the first instinct is to compare his voice to that of Demetrio Stratos, not only because Area are one of his many collaborations, but specially because his experiments and researches on voice, even though on a different line, can remind to the experimental works of that unlucky singer.

The contact point is in the theathrical mood of works like this "Adython". This is a kind of music that needs to be corroborated by a live experience like a ballet. When listening to "L'Oracolo di Delfi" Imagine how the crescendo of chaos and electronic noise that can be experienced at minute 7 can involve the listener if accompanied by a dance on a black and white stage. Just after this crescendo there's a short pause of silence and what follows is a song. The instrumentation is deeply electronic, but if you listen carefully what Claudio sings is a melody coming directly from the Italian artsy pop of the 60s, a sort of follow-up to the cover of "Vedrai, Vedrai" released some years ago. Let this music penetrate your mind, this is the key to disclose it. The noisy instrumental final of the track leaves the listener with a sensation of incompleteness that needs to fade into the second, very long, track of the album. Even if I'm Italian I don't pay attention to the lyrics. The sound of the words is here more important than their meaning.

The title track is opened by a very long vocal note. It's a dialog between voice and a jazzy sax which is quickly transformed into a very dark experiment, with the voice exploring the lowest and highest notes fused with breathes and various sounds. There's a huge use of loops in this part which slowly starts to capture the listener. At minute 4 let's pay attention to the vocal extension. Claudio Milano is capable of an incredible extension and when he does clean singing he shows also an excellent tone, vaguely similar to John De Leo. Here and there the sax goes in foreground and adds more than a touch of cold jazz. Also the story narrated by Claudio is somewhat interesting. It has a feeling of avantgarde theatre, Beckett comes to my mind for the atmosphere. At this point I can't say how much of this track is "improvisation". The text sung by Claudio can't be too improvised, maybe the sax but some unison moments and some vocal attacks are apparently clearly planned. Other than the voice, there's a lot of research and experiment also in the electronic noises and in the loops while the sax remains the only true "instrument" to link what we usually know as "music" and this experimental work. Of course, understanding the language can add a further level to the listening experience but like in the first track, the sound of the words is more important than their meaning that's almost dark and introspective. There's also a melodic moment, totally unexpected which comes after a short silence at minute 24 to demonstrate the artist's eclectism. Not an easy album, like all the avantgarde things, but this is exactly what makes it worth. As much effort you put in the listening as much pleasure you obtain from it. A mind opener

Hi cats, this is my first jazz review....

I bought this album just the day after having seen Stanley for the first time on a TV show. I was highly impressed by his technique. In a period when tapping on the guitar was typical of heavy metal players, this guy was playing alone on a very clean guitar with absolutely no effects apart, maybe, a high pick-ups volume.

For who doesn't know Stanley Jordan, he plays bass and accompainment by tapping with the left hand and melody and chords with the right.

Now the album: it's an album of covers taken both from the pop and the jazz world. It's when he plays pop tunes that his skill in arranging becomes more evident: making Eleanor Rigby or Angel a jazz thing is not easy unless you change them drastically.

In his case, and with the other standards in this album, Stanley is able to keep the original melodies, making the songs recognizable but adding his "magic touch".

He is probably an artist more enjoyable live, but this debut is one of these albums that can lighten the burden of driving in a traffic jam. Not a masterpiece, but a highly enjoyable easy album good for all the tastes.