NOVENCENTO
FEATURING STANLEY JORDAN
Dreams of Peace
Favored
Nations
Novecento’s recording Dreams of
Peace featuring guitarist Stanley Jordan is a lush
production that often melts into smooth jazz grooves, but
the level of musicianship and the setails that are added
keep this from being a soulless snoozefest. Novecento is
comprised of the Nicolosi siblings—Dona (vocals),
Lino (rhythm guitar), Rosanna (bass), and Pino (keyboards).
Along with Jordan, who plays lead guitar on the entire album,
the Nicolosis recorded and mixed Dreams of Peace at
their studio in Milan, with some additional sessions done
in California.
The opening song, “Tell Me Something,”
is nothing like the average smooth jazz or AOR track. Its
grandeur resembles the progressive rock of Yes or the symphonic
folk rock of Renaissance, or perhaps Enya without all the
vocal overdubs. It’s an intriguing piece, but ultimately
sinks a bit under its own weight. “Flying on the Sky”
gets us solidly into a smooth groove as Jordan and trumpeter
Guy barker play the melody together. It’s alike a
cross between George Benson and Herb Alpert. So far the
score is average, and the fluffy, wordless background vocals
don’t help. Jordan does some nice soloing, but the
track is too light to be memorable. “Too Close to
the Sun” finds a better groove and some nice details
in the keyboard work of Pino Nicolosi as well as a solid
horn arrangement. Barker tosses in a nice flugelhorn solo
and Jordan gets some sparks flying with his guitar work.
It’s the details the Nicolosi’s productions
adds, like Marco Fadda’s percussion work, that help
lift Dreams of Peace above the run of the mill smooth release.
“Sky Flower” has a good energy
level, with a techno beat played live by drummer Mimmo Campanale
and great guitar fills from Jordan. The overall sound and
feel is like an outtake from a late seventies/early eighties
Santana album. Vocal work by Gregg Brown of the band Osibisa
is well done on this track, as well as on the final track,
“I Can Show You Something.”
“Destination of My Heart” features
a Dave Liebman sax solo that lifts the track out of the
ordinary. In all honesty, the music on this disc is infections
and actually bears repeated listening, again because of
the care and attention to detail demonstrated by both the
musicians and the producers. Heading into the disc’s
second half “Spring” is somewhere between 70s
fusion and electric free jazz. Jordan lets loose with some
high volume guitar shredding while guest Danny Gottlieb
unfurls a salvo of free wheeling drum work that recalls
Tony Williams at times. Then, orver a wash of synth chords
Randy Brecker steps in with a fully swinging jazz solo.
The following track, “Dreams of Peace” is a
showcase for Jordan, who rises to the occasion with some
of his finest solo work of the album. The final two tracks
return to a more predictable smooth format, with Brown returning
for vocals on the closer, “I Can Show You Something.”
If you cannot listen to smooth jazz of any
type, then Dreams of Peace isn’t going to
work for you. But if you can hear the album out you may
discover that wide screen production doesn’t necessarily
mean that the music beneath the glossy surface is empty
and without substance.
