Ego Boost (HD)

By A Mystery Man Writer

Frank Martino is a guitar player, composer and producer: an eclectic musician, comfortable with rock, electronics and jazz. For the third album of his Disorgan project (on since 2015), Martino welcomes Massimiliano Milesi (tenor sax), who joins Claudio Vignali (keyboards) and Niccolò Romanin (drums). The album Ego Boost will be out on June 5th for Auand Records. While Martino’s role as a soloist is limited compared to his past works, he’s more present as a music director of the whole project. The entire band took part in the creation process. Milesi takes the sound to a more jazzy mood, however the general approach is closer to that of a rock act – which gave Martino the opportunity to play bass (which he loves) in some tracks, thanks to his special 8-string guitar. Martino penned all 7 tracks except ‘Trees of Silence and Fire’ (Milesi/Vignali). They all have a strong rhythm drive and clearly highlight the group sound. There was no post-production: every track was recorded live, with a huge work on sounds. Enrico Terragnoli underlines the collective composition side of Ego Boost: “The guitar player knows very well how to serve the band, and follows their suggestions by emphasizing the compositions as well as the polished sound combinations they generate. As a confirmation of their close relationship, you’ll find interesting exchanges on the role of bass player between Martino’s imaginative 8-string guitar and Vignali’s keyboards – an essential harmonic engine in this project. All members follow the same path, which is definitely not granted when such complex meters and forms are used. Credit must be given to Romanin here, and to his being in control and proactive at the same time. The transition from trio to quartet offers even more chances to play with timbers and narratives, without the use of elaborate post-production or any other studio tricks. Recorded with a live approach, the sound is absolutely real, distant from affectedness even in Milesi’s sax sound range – amazingly super-accurate as usual in his general contribution”. liner notes by Enrico Terragnoli [translated by Dan Kinzelman] 'Ego Boost' might seem like a new model of distortion pedal, something shiny and wild for guitarists to drool over. But the title and the cover describe the exact opposite - our desperate attempts at self-aggrandizement always leave us wilting in the shadow of the images we work to maintain and project. Belying the record's title, Disorgan reveals itself to be a shining example of collective creativity trumping individual egos. Guitarist and bandleader Frank Martino is clearly interested in musical questions broader than his own ego and we can feel how much space his compositions leave for the unpredictable and clever choices developed by the ensemble. Listen to how Martino's 8-string guitar and Vignali's keyboards seamlessly swap bass duties, and note the palpable unity of direction we can feel throughout the record, despite the complex and challenging material (thanks in large part to drummer Romanin's precise control and limitless imagination, even in its most tortuous moments). The addition of the fourth instrument further expands the sonic and narrative possibilities, without resorting to elaborate post-production trickery. Indeed, this record sounds concrete and raw - no blurred edges or beautifying filters, and Milesi's sax comes through in all its crude glory (decisive and surgically precise as always). I have known and admired Frank, Massimiliano, Claudio and Niccolo' for years, but this record was something more than I expected: what emerges is not merely a musical conversation between four of Italy's finest creative voices, but rather a single, organic, collective voice: In a word, a band.