If writing music is an enormous gift for an artist per se and no matter the genre, to write soundtracks for movies and being able to translate the message carried by said movies into pieces of music that would appropriately benefit the mood and the feeling of a movie script, it is perhaps twice as difficult.
To come up with the concept of composing instrumental pieces for movies that don't actually exist, but they maybe, one day, being inspired by the wonderful soundscapes created by the vision and the imagination of an artist, it is quite a clever intuition and full credit for the idea goes to the Italian multi-instrumentalist, producer and composer Arlo Bigazzi, who, on this project, worked with two illustrious fellow Italian musicians like Mirio Cosottini and Flavio Ferri, both multi-instrumentalists themselves.
The title of the project speaks by itself and it is called Short Pieces For Short Movies, where Bigazzi, Ferri and Cosottini put together 7 highly interesting instrumental pieces that shine for their originality and, as the album title may suggest, their adaptability to be the ideal soundtrack either for a nature documentary or a "Noir" movie type, just to mention a couple of examples.
Every single composition runs an invisible story that it is left to the listener to create. Bigazzi, Cosottini and Ferri make a tremendous effort to create a sonic platform in which many of us can see themselves at some points of our lives, a platform that is multi-layered and can accompany the listener into journeys of unknown, like in the enigmatic composition Zandalee, a true monument to Electro/Avant-Garde or the opener A Different Side, a rather stunning piece where listeners can feel themselves walking into a city at night, with the light of the lampposts as their sole companion, where especially the sound of the trumpet of Mirio Cosottini helps to create those special nocturnal vibes that this tune beautifully carries within and throughout its duration.
Short Pieces For Short Movies obviously incorporates also other themes of a cinematic nature, such as E' Successo Qualcosa Dentro Di Me (Something Has Happened Inside Of Me), which is, in our personal interpretation, an ode to metamorphosis, that can be either humanly spiritual or related to nature, like the transformation of a plant or a tree for example.
The three Italian artists, through this very interesting and ambitious body of work, have drawn, thanks to their individual musicianship, a sonic mosaic built with enormous elegance, a mosaic where also there is space enough for improvisations and creativity. Undoubtedly, one of the secrets of the success of this record lies on the fact that Bigazzi, Cosottini and Ferri have collaborated in the past on other projects, therefore it's no wonder why the musical alchemy that emerges from Short Pieces For Short Movies works so well.
By the time the listener reaches the last piece, part of the album and called Quando Arrivi, Nina (When You Arrive, Nina), a rather soulful and exquisitely sentimental composition, there is almost a little feeling of disappointment that the album is already over after less than half an hour.
What remains, though, it is the fact that Short Pieces For Short Movies is an inspired, contemporary cinematic snapshot of remarkable quality that would stand comfortably either in a Hollywood Blockbuster movie or in a more low-budgeted one, a record put together by three exceptionally talented artists like Arlo Bigazzi, Mirio Cosottini and Flavio Ferri that may consider, perhaps, to revisit hopefully this beautiful project in years to come, because of its artistic depth and originality. As an old 80's t-shirt sported by the very famous Popstar Madonna used to state, "Italians Do It Better". In the case of Short Pieces For Short Movies, that is most certainly the case.
Short Pieces For Short Movies is out now and can be purchased via Materiali Sonori
