I wasn’t at all familiar with the songs of Neapolitan singer-songwriter Pino Daniele before listening to Gonzalo Plays Pino. Below I have added in some versions of material covered so you can easily compare especially if, like me, you are dancing in the dark with the repertoire.
That dance leads quickly enough to enlightenment given the sincerity of the approach and the consummate skill in delivering these songs from the heart wrapped in jazz feeling. The key songs are ‘Pace e serenità’ , ‘Toledo’ and ‘Quando’. Maria Pia De Vito’s vocal on ‘Gesù Gesù’ with beautifully gauged accompaniment from Rubalcaba is a big album highlight. From the lyrics: “Gesù, Gesù Come si cambia, è vero (Jesus Jesus how we change, it’s true).”
And the business of creative change is something the arrangements know lots about. Rubalcaba sculpts the direction into a rhapsodic vision that injects pace and mobility but does not forget to draw out the lush heart of the harmonies and the passion of it all.
These are lively and at times tender latin jazz interpretations. A simpatico band is flavoured by the Gato Barbieri-like sax playing of Daniele Sepe. There’s a good sprinkling of conga work from Giovanni Imparato on for instance ‘Toledo’ and when the band achieves a driving tempo there’s a significant gear shift. Rubalcaba is one of the world’s greatest jazz pianists and his role here is different to how you may know him playing jazz standards elsewhere. De Vito, known for her work with Huw Warren and Colin Towns, really inhabits the heart of ‘Pace e serenità’ so memorably. Overall it’s a tonic and something of a revelation.
Daniele (1955–2015) was a highly influential Italian singer-songwriter and guitarist, celebrated for revolutionising Italian popular music with a unique fusion of blues, jazz, rock, and traditional Neapolitan melodies. Born in a working-class family in Naples, he taught himself guitar and began his career in the 1970s.
His 1977 debut album, Terra mia (“My Land”), blended local tradition with a modern sound, exploring themes of social injustice and his complex love for his hometown. His 1980 album Nero a metà (“Half-Black Skinned”) became a landmark, defining his signature style. Known for his husky voice and virtuosic guitar skills, he often mixed Neapolitan dialect with Italian and English lyrics.
Daniele collaborated with blues and jazz stars like Eric Clapton, Chick Corea and Wayne Shorter and released a couple of dozen studio albums. He died of a heart attack in 2015 at the age of 59.
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