09/28/12

Giacomo Merega
Watch the Walls Instead
Underwolf

By Bill Milkowski

There’s something chilling and distinctly sci-fi about the atmospheric improvisations by bassist Giacomo Merega, guitarist Marco Cappelli and saxophonist Noah Kaplan on this stark, freewheeling affair. Add the minimalist, atonal piano tinkling of Anthony Coleman (“White With Clouds,” “Blue on Blue,” “Still Yellow,” “Absence of Color”) and two dissonant tracks featuring violinist Mauro Pagani (“Forgotten Corners,” “Some Wind and Voices”) and you’ve got a startling display of spooky, tension-filled free jazz performed by a wide-open, deep-listening crew of mavericks. Merega, Cappelli and Kaplan also offer five delicate trio pieces, typified by the meditative rubato numbers “Patterns on the Glass” and “Tentative Light.”