Collettivo Immaginario - Trasforma

Format : LP

Label : Domanda Music

Catalog # : DMND003

Genre : Jazz

Collettivo Immaginario invites listeners on a glittering journey of cosmic escapism with the release of Trasforma, their debut album out September 23 on LA-based label, Domanda Music. The instrumental collective was founded in Northern Italy by drummer Tommaso Cappellato, bass player Nicolò Masetto and pianist Alberto Lincetto as a creative laboratory in which to explore the worldly musical influences that inspired them. Through experimentation that draw on the traditions of eclectic jazz, funk and electronica, Trasforma distills the ebullient energy of the trio’s acclaimed live performances into a lush and cinematic studio album, subtly paying homage to genre-bending giants such as Azymuth, Lonnie Liston Smith, Herbie Hancock and Italian film composers Piero Piccioni and Piero Umiliani.

Over the course of nine tracks the listener is transported across a soundscape that is both organic and otherworldly. The title track Trasforma and the closing track Aperture are characterized by luminous piano melodies, supplemented by celestial tones from the Rhodes and synths, which summon the listener to ascend into the cosmos. And while the driving rhythms and broken beats of Ora Basta (that's enough) add funk and fire to the album, more wistful moments are revealed in downtempo tracks such as Salice (willow) and Pescatore (fisherman), which offer space for introspection and contemplation of that which surrounds us.

While openly celebrating rhythms from Brazil and West Africa that have influenced their dynamic sound, the musicians were intentional about acknowledging the Italian lens through which they encounter the world. The expressive sounds of their native tongue are harnessed in the naming of the track titles, all of which reflect the album’s central theme of transformation from one state or perspective into another. Trasforma’s cover art is also dedicated to the aesthetic values and creative traditions of Northern Italy. The repeating abstract pattern–designed by the late Giorgio Pasini–pays homage to the work of Gruppo ENNE, the kinetic art collective known for developing a distinctive visual language for the post-war era in Cappellato’s hometown of Padua.