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Flow, Home on CD

Italian guitarist Francesco Diodati's third album as a leader, Flow, Home, is conceptually grounded in the exploration of emotional focal points. It's also the debut of Diodati's Yellow Squeeds quintet, featuring Enrico Zanisi on piano, Enrico Morello on drums, Glauco Benedetti on tuba, and Francesco Lento on trumpet. Diodati is also a member of the Enrico Rava Quartet, and has an ongoing duo project with the Italian trumpet player. The band formed around the union of many approaches and styles, thus enriching Diodati's originals with a timbric range and countless expressive possibilities. The opening track, "Split," is all about the moment one feels split in two -- a division here translated in music through both Lento's anxious trumpet and Benedetti's nervous tuba. The long ostinato in the ballad "Ale" holds the immanence of a feeling that mixes up strength and tenderness. And then "Lost" comes, and Diodati's subtle guitar-swarms express a sense of confusion and loss, sealed by an intensely acoustic final moment. "Believe" starts as a game, with the piano playfully disturbed by Burmese gongs and ping-pong balls and helped by Morello's clean drumming, and then opens up to fascinating harmonic choices and a sudden elegance. "Folk Song," "Flow," and "Home" are three compositions that seem linked by a stream of consciousness. "Folk Song" is the ideal introduction, with a minimal melody focused on an easy guitar line and strengthened by a no-frills approach. In "Flow," this turmoil finds its final shape, turning into an imaginary dialogue between trumpet and tuba underlined by Morello's nervous drumming. "Home" is the perfect union of lyricism and technique, highlighting Diodati's inner melodic taste and, at the same time, the intention of defying the six-string boundaries. There is also a tribute to Thelonious Monk, Diodati's musician of choice, here celebrated with a daring reinterpretation of "Played Twice," which shows the interplay skills of this young yet wise quintet. Pensive closer "Casa do Amor" is the happy landing of a restless path, magnificently reflected in Benedetti's euphonium solo.