“Take Root Among the Stars”, quoting the words of the great science fiction writer Octavia Butler, here is Roots Magic’s third installment for Clean Feed. Cut by the Italian quartet, here and there augmented by a couple of special guests, historical wind player Eugenio Colombo and vibes maestro Francesco Lo Cascio, this new album comes as a further step into the borderland between Deep Blues and Creative Jazz. The new repertoire includes reworked tunes by Skip James, Kalaparusha Maurice McIntyre, Charles Tyler and Ornette Coleman plus new works on some of the band’s favorite composers, Charley Patton, Phil Cohran, John Carter, and Sun Ra. The album opens up with Phil Cohran’s Frankiphone Blues, a deep sensuous Afro oriented groove and tight horn arrangements, perfectly enhanced by Colombo’s flute solo and Lo Cascio’s oblique harmonies. Energy music and Free Jazz keep striking a chord with the four Italians via the ultra-out spiritual sound of Kalaparusha’s take and some boiling improvisations on their tribute to Charles Tyler. The spirit of the Delta is conjured here through a challenging version of Skip James’s daunting classic Devil Got my Woman and the fat, earthy pulse of Patton’s Mean Black Cat Blues. The album closes with John Carter’s Karen on Monday, A beautiful contemplative clarinet tune immersed in a wide-open soundscape with the quartet displaying a more explorative approach to sound, timbre, and noise.

Recorded by Gabriele Conti, Stone Recording Studio, Roma, September 2019 | Mixed and mastered by Antonio Castiello with assistance by Aldo De Sanctis Jambona Lab, Livorno, November 2019
Produced by Roots Magic | Executive by Pedro Costa for Trem Azul | Design by Travassos | Photo caption: Holly Ridge, Mississippi, April 11th 2018 | Inlay photo by Jacopo Tedeschi | The album title is a quote from the work of Octavia E. Butler