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The Locomotive Suite

by Francesco Ciniglio

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  • Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    High quality, 6 panel digifile with a velvety soft-touch laminate finish & 12 page booklet with liner notes from Wynton Marsalis

    Includes unlimited streaming of The Locomotive Suite via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ships out within 5 days
    Purchasable with gift card

      $14 USD or more 

     

  • Streaming + Download

    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

    Comes with album artwork booklet PDF + album cover photo as a jpg
    Purchasable with gift card

      $10 USD  or more

     

  • 2 x 12" LP - 180g (Yellow and Grey Marble) - Limited Edition
    Record/Vinyl + Digital Album

    High quality, 180 gram, 12" 2x Gatefold LP (3 sides of music - A, B, C, + Etched D side with Whirlwind logo mark) - comes with download code containing the digital album in multiple formats + liner notes from Wynton Marsalis

    Includes unlimited streaming of The Locomotive Suite via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

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1.
2.
Locomotive 10:06
3.
4.
Capitano 00:41
5.
6.
The Turtle 02:52
7.
8.
9.
Mon Ange 05:42

about

PERSONNEL

Francesco Ciniglio - drums & composition
Raynald Colom - trumpet & flugelhorn
Matt Chalk - alto saxophone & arrangements
Matteo Pastorino - bass clarinet
Alexis Valet - vibraphone
Felix Moseholm - double bass

ALBUM CREDITS

Recorded on July 5th & 6th 2020 at Studio Ferber, Paris
Mixed by Valentin Couineau & Dave Darlington
Mastered by Dave Darlington
Produced by Francesco Ciniglio
Liner Notes by Wynton Marsalis
Photography & Video by Audrey Radas
Graphic Design by Dave Bush & Audrey Radas
All Compositions by Francesco Ciniglio
Executive Producer - Michael Janisch

credits

released July 16, 2021

ABOUT THE ALBUM

Born in Naples, educated in New York and now residing in Paris, drummer Francesco Ciniglio combines spotless drumming facility with substantial compositional flair, and has the capacity to move, reflect and express through his music. An in-demand sideman, Ciniglio has collaborated with Wynton Marsalis, Shai Maestro, Aaron Parks, Dayna Stephens, Seamus Blake and Tony Tixier.

Following his debut solo release (Wood, with Parks and Joe Sanders), Ciniglio returns as leader for his Whirlwind debut, The Locomotive Suite, a set of compositions for sextet that combine a personal metaphor of resilience with snapshots of his formative familial influences. Barcelona- based Raynald Colom (trumpet), fellow Paris emigrée Matt Chalk (alto) and Matteo Pastorino (bass clarinet) take the frontline duties, with Frenchman Alexis Valet on vibraphone and rising star Felix Moseholm on double bass.
“It’s a straight metaphor,” says Ciniglio of the suite. “Every one of us should be our own locomotive, sturdy and reliable, because crazy times can come; if we don't react right away, and don't keep going, we're going to sink.” Composed for sextet, the collection began as reflections on the Ciniglio’s intense experiences of New York. They found another life in Paris and were recorded in May 2020 during one of the city’s brief lockdown respites, which saw the ensemble descend on the capital from all across Europe.

The suite is a collection of substantial, knotty harmonies, rhythmic shifts and spacious textures. But it also experiments internally, with chordal horn textures giving bass and vibraphone more melodic freedom. The unusual scoring is inspired by the soundworlds of Pat Metheny and Ben van Gelder, bridging the gap between music for large ensemble and harmonically focused trio music. Or, as Ciniglio puts it, it’s all about "finding an ensemble that’s not too big or small.”

The Locomotive Suite expands on that resilient ‘locomotive’ metaphor, coupled with ‘wagons’ – ‘personal experiences that nobody can take away from you’. The opener ‘Laura Martina’ is dedicated to Ciniglio’s late grandmother, a charismatic entertainer who helped raise him – a warm chorale sits above a pulsating drum texture. The darting rhythms of ‘Locomotive’ are the most closely related to train travel, but are actually derived from the Neapolitan tarantellas of his youth. Constructed in a series of windows, each new section is “a landscape which a train might pass through.” ‘Arlene’s March’ trots towards the Lower East Side and Arlene’s Grocery, famous for its hip-hop jam nights. Three personal postcards follow (‘Capitano’ for his Dad, ‘Self-Made Man’ for his Neapolitan ‘Uncle’ who chased the American Dream, and ‘The Turtle’, a tender dedication to bassist Moseholm), followed by two darker pieces (‘Concern in the Background’ and ‘945 St Nicholas Avenue’), before the sweetly melancholic duet ‘Mon Ange’ aptly ends the album with, and in, love.

“This album is all about movement – getting a train here, marching there,” summarises Ciniglio. But it also reflects on people and places, and on the personal growth that helps make The Locomotive Suite a significant compositional statement.

PRESS HIGHLIGHTS

"The leader's drums are always stimulating but this excellent album should be enjoyed as an ensemble achievement."
★★★★ Jazzwise Magazine

"Ciniglio's art, which is largely nourished by be-bop roots, is characterized by the deepest sophistication, clarity, and style. His confidence is extraordinary, his presentation, a fascinating blend of eccentricity and inward focus and his ingenious play is the essence of everything Max Roach, Philly Joe Jones, Art Blakey, or a young Tony Williams left for posterity."
Jazzma

"A refreshingly different set of originals with a contemporary and loose feel, drawing on diverse rhythmic influences and an unusual palette featuring vibraphone and bass clarinet."
Bebop Spoken Here

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The official Whirlwind Artist Page for drummer and composer Francesco Ciniglio.

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