Massimiliano Coclite 4tet - STRANGE PEOPLE

Wolfgang Giese / September 2018
“The jazz pianist Massimiliano Coclite comes from Milan and was born there in 1968. After first attempts to play the guitar he later studied piano. In addition to classical music, he dedicated himself to pop and jazz music. Jazz is also what he plays with his Massimiliano Coclite 4tet on his current record Strange People.

Together with his colleagues, he has managed to create a very lively, smooth sound that reflects a contemporary jazz, which of course also draws from jazz history. ‘The Gloom’, the opening title reminds me very much to the atmosphere that one could find in the seventies on the LPs of the ECM label. Very beautiful music, quite introverted, but with an enormously emotional charisma, calm, restrained narrative and with that certain magic that invites us to dream and float.

The four musicians form a dense unit, they all pursue the same ideal sound pattern and seem to communicate with each other constantly with the soloists on piano and saxophone. But with the pure drifting beautiful sound it does not remain, also elements of rocking nuances meet, occasionally giving the music a very subtle and light touch of fusion. The mood is often playful, ‘Northern Wind’ is a good example at the beginning of the piece of when the bass and piano allow a lively foreplay, and conjure quite believably a picture of northern wind after adding the saxophone and drums.

Yes, the four musicians are able to create a mood that can tempt inclined listeners to immerse themselves in a lost world of thought and create personal images and films. As an example “A Rainy Day”, here too an excellent idea of ​​what a rainy day can sound like. Yes, I can perfectly say that this record holds a string of narrations. It is preferable rather than immersing oneself in this relaxed world of sound, just to enjoy them.”