Richard Galliano - Nino Rota ( Deutsche Grammophon 2011)

French accordion maestro Galliano brings this band to the London jazz festival on 17 November and the mix is certainly tempting – Nino Rota's timeless movie themes interpreted by an elite international jazz quintet featuring Dave Douglas on trumpet, John Surman on reeds, Boris Kozlov on bass and Clarence Penn on drums. Listeners attracted more by the lineup than the material should note that the jazz shades and subtly skews the compositions rather than taking them over, and that Surman in particular isn't much heard outside of his ensemble role. The group's jazz energies make the biggest difference in the engine-room, with the superb Kozlov and Penn applying circus-music strutting, 1950s Miles Davis swing-groove hipness, brooding drama and New Orleans funeral-march rhythms as needed. Douglas's brassy, slewing lines whirl across La Strada – Tema and he and Surman then switch into 50s Miles Davies mode over Penn's rimshots – with the saxophonist probably delivering his most straight-ahead recording in decades. La Strada Processione is a Carla Bley-style dirge; The Godfather Love Theme is exquisitely played by Galliano against only a bass commentary; Surman sounds Sidney Bechet-like on La Notti di Cabiria; and Giuglietta Degli Spiriti is gurgly free-improv that turns into a Latin dance. They are beautiful themes, and this set prioritises their sympathetic rendition.
John Fordham  / guardian.co.uk
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