Artist: Dino Saluzzi
Album: El Viejo Caminante
Genre: World Fusion
Label: ECM Records
Released: 2025
Quality: FLAC (tracks+.cue)
Tracklist:
01. La Ciudad de Los Aires Buenos (J.M.Saluzzi) - 6:14
02. Northern Sun (Krog) - 5:36
03. Quiet March (Young) - 5:26
04. Buenos Aires 1950 (D.Saluzzi) - 4:10
05. Mi Hijo y Yo (D.Saluzzi-J.M.Saluzzi) - 5:18
06. Tiempos de Ausencias (D.Saluzzi) - 4:26
07. Someday My Prince Will Come (Churchill-Morey) - 8:11
08. Y Amo a Su Hermano (D.Saluzzi) - 7:59
09. El Viejo Caminante (D.Saluzzi) - 5:23
10. Dino Is Here (Young) - 5:49
11. Old House (Young) - 6:36
12. My One and Only Love (Wood-Mellin) - 6:24
DOWNLOAD FROM FILECAT.NET >>>
Personnel:
Dino Saluzzi - bandoneon
Jacob Young - acoustic steel-string guitar, electric guitar
Jose María Saluzzi - classical guitar
It can be argued that many prefer nonagenarian Argentinian bandoneon master Dino Saluzzi's ensemble recordings to his solo work. Of course, there's an equally large group that prefers the solo material. But what if he captured both sensibilities on a single album? El Viejo Caminante (The Old Wanderer) accomplishes exactly that. It's a gently evocative set of chamber jazz, folk, tango-infused memory sketches and restrained, melodic improvisation. Accompanied by Norwegian guitarist Jacob Young and classical guitarist son José Maria Saluzzi, Dino's sonorous bandoneon resonates in revisiting some early works, original trio compositions, two pop standards, and a Karin Krog cover. They key to this unsual chamber collective is that both guitarists understand exactly how to accompany Saluzzi, and when to get out of his way.
Check opener "La Ciudad de los Airies Buenos," a gently anthemic tune by José. It offers a lilting melody that gently flows from the bandoneon as José adds restained yet colorful nylon-string chords to the underside and Young begins winding a sparse fingerpicked acoustic solo in the margin before Saluzzi tenderly rejoins them on the melody. It's followed by Krog's classic "Northern Sun." Young played with the vocalist at the beginning of his career and has ingested the complexities in her original work. This tune commences with a lyric melody that sounds like French musette with Spanish flamenco and tango undertones before Young's guitar introduces jazz changes as Saluzzi begins a counter lyric and José joins Young to create a warm, sonorous palette before everybody solos tastefully. "Tiempo De Auscencias" was originally recorded for Volver with Enrico Rava. It is an intricate, flowing ballad wherein the guitarists engage with one another in cascading changes with Young's elegantly knotty solo upfront before José answers in kind with Dino adding lush chords in the backdrop. He picks up the lyric as the guitarists extrapolate harmony and rhythm. "Y Amo a Su Hermano" is an adaptation of a tune he recorded with saxophonist Charlie Mariano and pianist Wolfgang Dauner. Saluzzi does an excellent job of handling piano and bandoneon roles, as his accompanists create an intimate palette for his tonal explorations. The two standards, "Someday My Prince Will Come" and "My One and Only Love," are delivered with great sensitivity and nearly instinctual harmonic interplay; Young and José offer lush ballast for the bandoneon that articulates the lyric melodies with restraint, grace, and taste. The title track is performed solo; it's a meditative reverie based on a folk song. Young's "Dino Is Here" focuses on twinned melody lines from bandoneon and guitar that gather momentum as they shift modes, keys, and dynamic while José creates expansive chord voicings and the pair travel into something that emanates folk, blues, and tango. Every moment on El Viejo Caminante offers illumination, innovation, and restraint, and as a result, it's nearly magical and stands with Saluzzi's very best work.
Review by Thom Jurek