Nina Feldgrill

Luigi Cinque is considered one of the founders of European world music, yet he is also a key figure in contemporary and avant-garde jazz. His 2001 album, Tangerine Cafè, was hailed by critics and by Peter Gabriel himself as "a brilliant gateway into world music."

Today, Cinque—who is also a filmmaker—is releasing a new album, a personal sound journey that, "like a film," transcends time and space through a mix of written composition and traditional improvisation. Titled Kromosoma Maris, the album is an eclectic work by a multi-instrumentalist (voice, soprano saxophone, bass clarinet, piano, electronics). It's a diary of the present, infused with memories and unreleased tracks from his repertoire, blending "current recording studio" sessions with recordings made during "interplanetary" musical tours and travels. It's filled with extraordinary characters and ancestral voices.

Much like a film, a musical scene from distant concerts occasionally returns as a "flashback," serving as a dimensional marker of time — from Gnawa rituals to the Boca neighborhood in Buenos Aires.

The title Kromosoma Maris evokes the search for the "sea's chromosome," viewed as the universal amniotic fluid and a galactic vibration that unites cultures and traditions. The sea is the great father and mother, rejecting regionalisms to affirm "one single sea" as a symbol of global connection. We are now in a Post-Human dimension, and there is only one sea.

Cinque's soprano saxophone, nicknamed "a ciaramela de deus" ("the bagpipe of God") by the legendary Armandinho Macedo, humbly fuses the great jazz of masters like Sidney Bechet, John Coltrane, and David Liebman with the richness of modal ethnic traditions. His music incorporates influences from the Middle East to Africa, from Brazil to the Mediterranean. His teacher in India was Bismillah Khan, the unforgettable player of the Shennai (an Indian double-reed oboe).

The project is enriched by collaborations and notable guest appearances from artists such as Jivan Gasparyan (duduk), Urna Chahar-Tugchi, Nicole Ewang, Sal Bonafede, Riccardo Tesi, the Bnet Houaryat, the Gnawa of Marrakesh, and the poet Lello Voce with spoken word. Also featured are tango players like Walter Rios and samba artists like Louisinho do Jeje. These voices unite to form a single chorus in that "single Sea," where poetry becomes essential for rediscovering the "KROMOSOMA MARIS" and saving the planet from the "plague of men."

Luigi Cinque's music, which critics have called "transgenic," is a "Dramaturgy of Genres" that explores the connections between the archaic and the future, the avant-garde and improvisation, symphonism and monody. His work, without a fixed residence, finds a home in the Residences of World Music, Contemporary, and European Jazz.

Tracklisting :
         

1. Ritual Gnawa (Gnawa Marrakech, Luigi Cinque)
2. Kromaris / C'e solo un mare (Luigi Cinque, Giovanna Famulari, Jivan Gasparyan, Sanyay)
3. Luna Reverse Revisited (Luigi Cinque, Walter Rios, Riccardo Tesi)
4. Poetry Masaba (Luigi Cinque, Urna Chahar Tugchi, Lello Voce)
5. Ritual 2 Bnet Houaryat & Sax (Gnawa Marrakech, Luigi Cinque)
6.. Blu Siciliano (processione) (Luigi Cinque, Laia Genc, Sal Bonafede, Alex Balanescu)
7. Soona (Homburg) (Luigi Cinque, Giovanna Famulari, Jivan Gasparyan, Sanyay)
8.Ritual 3 Gnawa (Marrakech, Luigi Cinque)
9. Baries Afrikan Impression (Luigi Cinque, Walter Rios, Nicole Ewang, Gianpaolo Ascolese, Giovanna LO Cascio)
10. Phrygian Train Berlin (Luigi Cinque, Laia Genc, Sal Bonafede, Alex Balanescu)
11. Saturnia Silent Song Revisited (Luigi Cinque, Urna Chahar Tugchi, Sal Bonafede)
12. El quinto (Luigi Cinque,Fausto Mesolella)(over recording Giovanni Lo Cascio)