Grégoire Maret and Romain Collin's Homage to Composer/Arranger Ennio Morricone on "Ennio"

Ennio: Grégoire Maret Romain Collin Act 9959-2

Two, European-born musicians, the Swiss born chromatic harmonica master Grégoire Maret and the impressionistic French born pianist Romain Collin, both currently based in New York City,  grew up with listening to and developing a passion for the music of the Italian composer/arranger Ennio Morricone. The product of their exploration into the man's music is a fitting homage, their latest collaboration Ennio on ACT Records and released in April of 2024. I share the appreciation and enthusiasm of these musicians for the music of Mr. Morricone who passed away after a long and productive life in 2020 at the age of ninety-one. The album is a dedication, a respectful and moving remembrance, of Morricone's mastery as a film scorer. The maestro has written the music for over four hundred films, and it is a testimony to how much his music affected these talented and expansive musicians as well as film lovers around the world.

In case you don't recognize the name, it's unlikely that you too haven't been indelibly touched by the man's work. Ennio Morricone's music graced the films of so many great and iconic movies that it's almost hard to comprehend. He worked closely composing and orchestrating for Italian director Sergio Leone, on such films like The Good The Bad and the Ugly( 1966), Fistful of Dollars (1964) and Once Upon a Time in America (1984). He scored Giuseppe Tornatore's "Cinema Paradiso (1988) and Terrence Mallick's Days of Heaven (1968). His only Academy Award for his work, despite receiving seven nominations, came for his score of Quentin Tarantino's The Hateful Eight (2015). Along the way this prolific, in- demand artist worked for notable directors like Bernado Bertolucci, John Huston,  William Friedkin, Roman Polanski, John Carpenter and Brian DePalma amongst others.

Romain Collin and Grégoire Maret (photo credit unknown)

There was something always engaging about Morricone's work in film, he possessed a sixth sense of what it took musically to enhance what was being portrayed on the silver screen. Sergio Leone was so comfortable with Morricone's innate ability to compose what was complimentary to his films, that he reportedly requested Morricone to score Once Upon in Time in America before filming. He did this so that the actors could use the music as an inspiration, acting  their scenes out with the music playing in the background during the actual filming.

Maret, is one of the most sought after musicians on his instrument. The influence of the late Belgian harmonica master Jean "Toots" Thielemans is obvious on Maret's fluid and expressive playing. It is likely that Maret has become Thieleman's heir apparent, arguably the premiere player of this instrument in the world! 

Maret came to New York in 1993 at the age of eighteen to study at The New School after having graduated from Conservatoire de Musique de Geneva in Switzerland. His marvelous facility and inventiveness led him to be sort after as a sideman for such luminaries as Pat Metheny, Cassandra Wilson, David Sanborn and Herbie Hancock. 

Romain Collin is a pianist from Antibes in southern France and studied music in  Europe before coming to study Berklee in Boston in 2004 where he received a degree in Music Synthesis. He studied for his masters at The Herbie Institute of Jazz in 2007 and was  chosen by the school to tour promotionally with Wayne Shorter and Herbie Hancock. He has also studied with artists like Larry Goldings, Russell Ferrante, Charlie Haden, Ron Carter and Mulgrew Miller.

Maret and Collin have collaborated previously. Their 2022 album Americana, had the two Francophiles join forces with guitar ace Bill Frisell to create an airy, melodic travelogue through America. It has elements of jazz, blues, folk and gospel woven into a gorgeous tapestry and the album was rightly nominated for Best Contemporary Instrumental Album of 2022. I named it as one of Notes on Jazz's Best Releases of 2022

On Ennio, Maret and Collin have chosen twelve of Morricone's compositions to express their musical appreciation of the master. The opener "Once Upon a Time In America," also known as Deborah's Theme, comes from the 1984 Sergio Leone film of the same name. The music is beautifully played with Collin's delicate piano lines accentuated by Maret's somber and almost mournful wails. 

"For a Few Dollars More: Watch Chimes" from another of Leone's spaghetti westerns, is a one minute fourteen second peek into how brilliantly composed music can evoke a tense filled mood on film. Collin's metronomic keyboard, maybe a Celesta, mimics the chime sounding tune that emanates from a gunslinger's musical pocket watch. The tension is palpable and the anticipation is masterfully sustained with Maret's harmonica adding a soulful element.

"The Good the Bad and the Ugly: Ecstasy of Gold" is a main theme also from Sergio Leone's Dollar Trilogy. The music brings you back visually to Clint Eastwood's, serape clad, gunslinger character. Collin and Maret are joined by bassist Burniss Earl Travis II's and the drummer Marcus Gilmore. Collin's ostinato piano opening is embellished by some booming lines by Travis and percussive accents by Gilmore as Maret's lines soar over the rhythm. Gilmore's cadenced drum work set the stage for Maret's expressive harmonica improvisation. Collin's piano work builds up tension and he and the rhythm section interact with precision likely accentuating the action on the film that the music was written for.

The album is predominantly cinema generated music. "Suoni oer Dino" or Sounds for Dino offers a train inspired drum line by Gilmore and throbbing bass line by Travis, as Maret wails simulating the approaching train engine whistle. The sentimental intro to "Once Upon a Time in the West" is a mere 54 seconds and leads into the rousing theme to the movie which finds Collin playing a melodically  inspired barroom honky-tonk. The moving theme to "Cinema Paradiso" has Collin and Maret trading melodic lines, transporting the listener back into a simpler time that is presented in Guiseppi Tornatore's film.

Morricone, outside of his film work, also wrote prodigiously for pop music (Paul Anka, Céline Dion and Astrud Gilberto have sung his songs), countless television scores, fifteen piano concertos, over thirty symphonic pieces, an opera (Andrea Bocelli sang one of his songs) and even the music for a mass.

On Morricone's "Se Telefonando", ("If She Calls") is a 1966 pop song about unrequited love and was sung by the Italian pop vocalist Mina.  Here, Maret and Collin are again joined by the empathetic rhythm section of Travis and Gilmore and with a tasty slide guitar intro by Marvin Sewell. The sensuous, smoky contralto of Cassandra Wilson opens the song and she is joined by the distinctive voice of Gregory Porter. Maret's harmonica adds his own accents as Collin's piano leads the group through the memorable melody. Just beautiful.

"Chi Mai" was a song written in 1971 and used in the film Le Professionnel by director Georges Lautner in 1981 starring Jean-Paul Belmondo. Collins piano work is soulful on the opening. Maret's harmonica provides an eerie sensitivity that just hangs in the air like a desperate sigh. 

"The Sicilian Clan" is an French-Italian gangster movie directed by Henri Verneuil and released in 1969 with music by Morricone. Here the music evokes a hip, late sixties period sound with Collin on electric piano, Gilmore on drums and Travis on bass. The melody has an electronic lounge-like feel to it and Maret's eloquent harmonica adds his own sense to the musical palette.

"Tragedy of a Ridiculous Man" was a movie by Bernardo Bertolucci and released in 1981. Morricone's music is beautifully rendered by Collin's emotive piano work  Maret's harmonica often evokes a pleading human voice. The two respond to each other's musical expressions like two threads finely woven into the same tapestry, separate but somehow strengthened by each others presence. 

It is so appropriate that these two serious Morricone fans would end their homage album with one of the maestro's most iconic songs from his film work. "The Man with a Harmonica"  was a eerie song that that was played throughout the film adding tension, anticipation and suspense. In the Leone movie "Once Upon a Time in the West" (1969), a reticent but deadly gunslinger played by Charles Bronson is often heard playing his diatonic harmonica rather than speaking. The harmonica part was hauntingly played on a chromatic harmonica by Francesco "Cheeco" Rizzoli on the original movie soundtrack. It was Morricone's simple use of the droning instrument's voice-like qualities in an experimentally daring way that changed the way movie music would be used going forward. Maret is a master and evokes the same agitation and pressure building tension as Collin's piano and electronics add to the other worldly feel and the escalating danger that is featured in the movie. As with first encountering the original film and sound, this music it is hard to forget.

In a 2020 retrospective on film Mark Lager said in a Cine Action article that Morricone's music has "...melodic splendor" and "revolutionary textures."  Others have praised Morricone's experimental daring and he is often considered one of the most influential and copied composers in film scoring of all time. Clearly Grégoire Maret and Romain Collin are two musicians who agree with the iconic importance of Morricone's body of work. With their own love of melodic beauty, textural manipulation and musical daring they have taken the maestro's music and made it their own vehicle of expression and a fitting homage to their hero's legacy.

Jazz in July Series Finale at Stamford's Columbus Park Presents: Chick Corea and the Vigil

Chick Corea photo by Ralph A. Miriello c 2103

This past Wednesday August 7,2013, as a truly fitting ending to a talent packed Jazz in July concert series in Stamford's Columbus Park, the creative pianist Armando "Chick" Corea played a stirring set of music with his latest touring group the Vigil. Mr. Corea is a world class pianist and keyboard artist whose presence has been at the forefront of the contemporary jazz scene for nearly half a century. It's hard to believe that I first heard Mr. Corea play almost forty years ago in a now defunct venue in New Jersey. Mr. Corea was initiating a new guitar player to his then fusion band Return to Forever. The guitar player then was a young Al Di Meola, who amazingly sight read the incredibly complex and as yet unfamiliar charts as band mates Stanley Clarke, Lenny White and Chick put him through a baptism of fire. The music was
eye-popping and hit you like a mainline shot of adrenaline. It was part of a trend that was then blurring the lines between rock and jazz, creating a wild variant that boasted, incredibly complicated musical lines and unprecedented synchronous virtuosity, all executed at blazing, mind-numbing speed. Mr. Corea, along with the drummer Tony Williams and his band Lifetime, the guitarist John McLaughlin and his Mahavishnu Orchestra, the pianist Herbie Hancock and his Headhunters and the saxophonist Wayne Shorter and co-founder Austrian keyboardist Joe Zawinul's group Weather Report were all major proponents of this new and energetic music. These artists, among others, were all alumni of the trumpeter Miles Davis' foray into electronic music. Davis had taken jazz by the scruff of it's neck and daringly thrown it on it's ear by delving into the newly developing world of electronic instrumentation, first with his 1969 album In a Silent Way and later with his landmark album Bitches Brew. For many its was a sacrilegious experiment, but for Mr. Corea the die was cast and despite maintaining a love of both traditional and avant-garde jazz,  Mr. Corea has seemingly found the use of electronics as an effective tool, a bridge that allows him to reach his audience, expand his base and create some marvelous music along the way.

Mr. Corea started the evening's set by  introducing his fellow musicians to the packed audience. On guitar from Berkeley, California, Charles Altura; on saxophones, bass clarinet and flute from London, England, Tim Garland; from Queens, New York, on drums, Marcus Gilmore; on percussion, from Caracas,Venezuela Luisito Quintero and for this performance -replacing regular Vigil bassist Hadrien Feraud-on acoustic and electric bass from Philadelphia, PA the inimitable Christian McBride.

Chick Corea & the Vigil photo by Ralph A. Miriello c 2013

Mr. Corea has always been able to attract top talent to perform with him around the world.  On this overcast evening in Stamford, that threatened but never produced showers, he certainly didn't disappoint bringing with a top notch group. Mr. Corea started the set with a beautifully ruminative acoustic piano introduction, reminiscent of his early acoustic work on Now He Sings, Now He Sobs from 1968. This morphed into a driving ostinato bass groove by Mr. McBride opening the song.  Mr. Corea's has an orchestra-tor's penchant for creating harmonically and rhythmically rich compositions that make full use of all the timbres available from his band mates.The groove created by the rhythm section allowed for some splendid solos- Mr. Garland on soprano saxophone, Mr. Altura on electric guitar, an unbelievably facile bass solo by McBride and some bombastic percussive runs by both Quintero and Gilmore. The song spanned over twenty minutes without a moment's lull throughout.

Wasting little time for applause, Mr. Corea immediately went into a more mainstream jazz standard on acoustic piano, Jimmy Van Heusen's "It Could Happen to You," where his telepathic interplay with Mr. McBride was most evident. For his part, Mr. McBride beamed delightfully throughout the song and for that matter throughout most of the evening. He has the contented  smile of a Cheshire cat and his playing brings an unbridled enthusiasm to the music. He possesses an amazingly swift pizzicato technique and a sophisticated language based on tradition and invention. Mr. Altura's playing was fairly reserved and a bit pedestrian. A more robust solo by saxophonist Tim Garland on tenor was well received. Mr. Garland is a versatile reed man who plays with a fiery attack that is visceral and liquid is a welcome voice in this group. Mr. Corea, for his part, was content in accompanying his fellow musicians and enjoying their creative forays on the well worn melody.

Mr. Corea  has been a longtime follower of  L. Ron Hubbard's Scientology and over the years his music has frequently incorporated themes about space and time undoubtedly influenced by his readings.The next tune, a Corea composition titled "Portals to Forever," builds from the music that he once created for his fusion band "Return to Forever."  Creating an electronic keyboard generated ostinato that leads into another McBride bass line, the song features a repeating vamp played synchronously by Garland and Altura,  as Gilmore and Quintero lay down the groove. Mr. Corea is now a sprite seventy-two years old and his trim figure in t-shirt and jeans gave him the appearance of being a much younger person, especially when he stood to play synthesizer, a keyboard instrument that seems to be a like a fountain of youth for this man. When Mr. Corea uses the instrument's other-worldly sounds to communicate in conversation with his fellow musicians- in one case with the responsive Mr. Garland on tenor saxophone, and then with an equally compliant Mr. McBride on electric bass-he seems to be tapping into some invisible energy field that invigorates his creative juices. When the song allows for a drum solo, Mr. Gilmore creates a battery of sounds that rumble forth like an exploding fusillade of artillery on display. Mr. Garland introduced the woody, resonant sound of his bass clarinet in support, eventually closing the piece on soprano saxophone. Mr. Altura, who along with Mr. Gilmore are the youngest members of Mr. Corea's current group, was curiously stiff and seemed to be playing in water that was a bit over his head for most of the evening. Mr. Corea has been a good judge of talent and it will be interesting to see how well the young Mr. Altura develops on this tour. On this song, Altura's semi-hollow bodied Gibson ES335 guitar rang out with some sensitivity and he provided his best solo of the night. The song created a blissful trip into the forever of Mr. Corea's fertile mind.

"Royalty" is an homage to one of Chick's early mentor's the great drummer Roy Haynes. Corea played with Mr.Haynes as a fellow sideman in Stan Getz's group and later used Haynes on the seminal Now He Sings, Now He Sobs with bassist Miroslav Vitous. Mr. Corea introduced the song with a romantic acoustic piano solo that was subtly moving. Mr. McBride's warm, bellowing bass added to the lush arrangement. Mr. Garland entered on soprano saxophone as the song ascended like a delicate, bejeweled debutante climbing up a grandly winding staircase. All eyes were on Garland as he soared to new heights. The song then sauntered a bit and Mr. Altura added a flowing guitar solo that fit nicely into the changes. But it was Mr. McBride's upright bass that danced to the delight of the crowd. Interjecting snippets of "My Favorite Things" to his solo, McBride's command of what can at times be a lumbering instrument, was truly a lesson in just how artful a sound the instrument can produce in his skillful hands. He is clearly one of the most talented bassist of his generation.

The finale was a song from the new album, a Corea composition cosmically titled "Galaxy 32 Star 4."
The young twenty-seven year old drummer Marcus Gilmore, who just happens to be drummer Roy Haynes grandson, begins the song. Gilmore demonstrates  that rhythmically, at least,  the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. Mr. Gilmore is a creative drummer whose has a penchant for syncopated rhythmic lines that he plays predominantly on the toms and rims. He created a whirling, circular, poly rhythmic sound before the band joined him back on stage to start the song behind him. With Mr. McBride on a distinctive Jaco-style electric bass, Mr. Garland was on soprano saxophone and Mr. Corea played on synthesizer and Fender Rhodes. The song took on the distinctive flavor of early Weather Report. The song lasted for the better part of twenty-five minutes, with each of the artists having their turn at soloing generously.

Mr. Corea's latest band the Vigil is in fact just that, a representation of keeping the musical flame alive and preserving the magical connection that happens between an artist and his audiences over generations
 and through the cosmos that is life.

Review of Walter Smith III "Live in Paris" The Magic of Chemistry

Artist: Walter Smith III

CD: Walter Smith III “Live in Paris”

Recorded:  “Live” at Sunset-Sunside Jazz Club, Paris, France July 2008


The soon to be thirty, Walter Smith III is a maturing voice on tenor saxophone who seems to be at his best when in the accompaniment of a fine trumpet player. He has front lined with some notables including the prolific Terrence Blanchard, as well as the up and coming Christian Scott, and the fiery Sean Jones all with laudable results, but it is with the prodigious Ambrose Akinmusire where he seems to have found a true kindred spirit.

On “Live in Paris”, Smith’s second album as a leader, the interplay with Akinmusire is visceral and palpably energetic. This set was recorded in July of 2008 in the club Sunset-Sunside in Paris and subsequently was released in October 2009. Ben Ratliff of the New York Times did a favorable review back in March of this year (click here to read Ratliff’s review). A friend recently turned me on to this powerful performance.

The opening salvo, “Blues” is an extended session on the blues with some fine individual moments On the introduction Smith delves deeply into a thoughtful solo exploration on his tenor. He has a strong, clear, deep-throated tone. He creates his own landscape of sounds, using a combination of slowly brewed tonal ideas that he intersperses with rapid crescendos of free flowing notes. He and Akinmusire take a brief but rousing duet at the head, showing a strong, unified symbiosis that has roots in some of the stellar sax/trumpet front lines of Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers but with a modern edge.

This band is a fully integrated unit that plays with the precision of a Swiss timepiece. Ambrose Akinmusire’s trumpet is beautifully emotive on this cd. He employs soft, demurred passages, slickly slurred lines and poignant punctuations that show great sensitivity and impeccable timing. It is hard to say who spurs on whom on this frontline since both Smith and Akinmusire seem to be invigorated by each other’s solo work.

The rhythm section is an essential part of this wonderful chemistry. Aaron Goldberg has a tremendous ear for picking up fragments of ideas from his fellow musicians and expanding on them. He uses these fleeting thoughts to prod both Smith and Akinmusire in a continuous flow of rapid-fire dialogue and as a source of inspiration for his own solo explorations.

An introductory solo by Matt Brewer aptly titled “Bass Solo” leads into the breezy “Aroca”. Aaron Goldberg’s solo work is particularly lyrical and moving as he dances with a light touch that has a crystalline quality at times. Smith takes this cue during his own thoughtful solo, undulating his way through the armature of the song like the gentle ebb and flow of an incoming tide. Akinmusire’s solo is a model of restraint, deftly accompanied by Brewer and Marcus Gilmore’s timely accents.

Another highlight is the group’s take on Benny Golson’s “Stablemates”. The song’s jagged lines offer the two frontline horns a chance to do a bit of a dance around each other before they each go solo. Akinmusire muses over Brewer’s wandering bass lines. Smith takes flight with a fluid tenor solo before Goldberg adds a magical interlude that sets the stage for some wonderful conversational work between the three members of this potent rhythm section.

Goldberg starts the intoxicating sway of the rhythm on “Shed” on solo piano before the frontline play the exotic melody in unison. Smith is at his most sensual here using delicate slurs and sonorous screeches to accentuate the anguish he feels from the melody line. The inventive Goldberg takes you on his own journey maintaining the ostinato of the bass line with his left hand as his right hand flourishes off a series of unexpected sidebars. Akinmusire enters using thoughtful, measured phrases that glide across the melody, slowly building tension with ever increasing intensity in a sustained, controlled manner. He chooses not to use firebrand pyrotechnics on his trumpet (more Miles than Freddie) but is nonetheless very effective.

The final song of the set is Sam Rivers' “Cyclic Episode” which has become a staple of Smith’s repertoire. The driving force of Brewer and Gilmore create the atmosphere where Goldberg, Smith and Akinmusire can shine during their individual solos. Smith is particularly flowing here with Gilmore spurring him on with timely crashes and rolls.

This is a top notch ensemble that has the magic of great chemistry on their side. Hopefully we will be able to hear more from them while the magic is still alive..



Musicians: Walter Smith III (tenor saxophone), Ambrose Akinmusire (trumpet), Aaron Goldberg (piano), Matt Brewer ( bass), Marcus Gilmore (drums).

 Here is Walter Smith III with Ambrose Akinmusire's Quartet Live at the Jazz Standard