Italian pianist now living in New York, Nicola Cipani gives us one of the most joyful instant recordings this year. His choice of music making was to utilize broken and almost unrecognizable untuned pianos he found in various warehouses. Okay, better heard than read from a piece of paper (or computer screen), these sometimes cranky, sometimes otherworldly boxes of strings remind you that the piano (and a few clavichords) are percussive instruments. Things rattle, children’s simple songs are plunked, parts ache, and buzz. Cipani’s concept seemingly never lags, nor repeats. The tunes are all bare bone compositions, averaging only 2 minutes in length, with the longest at five minutes and the shortest, just 32 seconds. “Macrominiature” is an off balanced set of chimes and vibrating chords, “True Story” has plucked strings, while “Scemofonia” sounds like very familiar bells rung via a vibraphone. Cipani’s imagination is unbounded. He sometimes plays simple songs, other times winds up a crazy player piano, as on “Outsourced Music.” If the strange and the beautiful is appealing to you, don’t miss this record. Tom Waits will be sampling these sounds.
Mark Corroto