Martellotta, Massimo
One Man Sessions, Vol. 3: One Man Orchestra
The five album solo project "One Man Sessions" by Massimo Martellotta, continues after the synthesizers of volume 1 "Sintesi" and the mellow prepared piano and drum grooves of volume 2 "Unprepared Piano". With the third volume we change again. One Man Sessions Volume 3 "One Man Orchestra" is indeed a full-fledged orchestral album - conceived with the film music composers of the '50s in mind, Bernard Hermann et al - in which Martellotta engages in writing for an orchestra of a retro mold, set in his world with an absolutely personal and current twist. Each instrument is played and tracked on track in real time, including the computer, this time a valid assistant in the simulation of some of the used timbres, intended as a real instrument in the middle of real ones. Sumptuous arches, crackling tympanums, sinuous woods find space to dialogue with lounge organ and percussion invented like the music paper itself, rubbed to keep time on some of the themes. Once again the composer surprises us and displaces us, using all his resources as multi-instrumentalist and mixing languages, venturing into worlds far away from each other: with "One Man Orchestra" we are light years from the world summoned with "SINTESI" and yet we always find a distinctive and recognizable feature that makes all the volumes of the complete work coherent. Realized, like the other volumes, in complete solitude, the album reveals a knowledge of all-round musical material and a strong taste for the melody. "Oppio" is reminiscent of the darker Morricone or Jonny Greenwood from Radiohead and is a counterpart to the opening song "Il Cappotto" - a perfect title track that quotes and closely reworks a John Williams composition - while in episodes more rhythmic, and sometimes romantic, we find the passion for the current Jon Brion and timeless melodies. An album to listen from the beginning to the end, following the emotional story told like that of a film, of which one sometimes has the impression of seeing the images, waiting to immerse themselves in the abyss evoked by the next, and fourth volume: "UNDERWATER ".