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Paolo Porta – 'Deceptive Resolution'

DDE RECORDS: EYS 013

Paolo Porta, alto sax; Andy Gravish, trumpet; Luca Mannutza, piano; Marco Loddo, bass; Vittorio Sicbaldi, drums.
Recorded July 2003; released February 2006

Paolo Porta is one of Italy’s most highly acclaimed and in-demand saxophonists. He is acclaimed on both alto and tenor saxophones for his acoustical clarity and rich tonality: his phrasing exhibits a wealth of lyricism and rhythm. Deceptive Resolution sees him playing alto throughout and largely with a post-Parker treatment that sways between Coltrane’s ‘sheets of sound’ and the exuberance of an extended Ornette Coleman solo. The album is full of aural references to bygone ages: lots of 60’s Blue Note bop and some sounds of the 50s echoing my long-standing memories of 10” LPs. Piano, bass and drums all fit nicely into the same periods, but Andy Gravish stands out as from a different sub-set.

Fully swinging throughout, this is a somewhat different form of hard-bop that is thoroughly enjoyable, but isn’t it on your shelves already? I’m sure I’d be glad to hear this band live if I encountered them, but I don’t feel that the album redefines anything for me, agreeable though it is.

Reviewed by
ken cheetham
April 2006