Dominick Farinacci, Sounds In My Life (Keystone). When I first heard Farinacci five or six years ago, he was one of two trumpet students featured on a Warren Vaché instructional DVD. In his solo on a blues, I was intrigued that he seemed to be reflecting in a personal way a school of trumpet playing notable for the subtlety of its beauty. Some of the trumpeters in the 1950s whose characteristics of tone, fluidity of ideas and lyricism bound them together in a general style were Don Joseph, Tony Fruscella, Chet Baker and Miles Davis. As on-the-sleeve virtuosity has burgeoned, it is an approach to the trumpet that has become increasingly rare. When Farinacci’s Sounds In My Life showed up in the mail, I put in on the CD player anticipating that kind of playing. I cannot report that I am disappointed that he was playing differently; his work is gorgeous.
Farinacci’s generous tone is open throughout the horn’s register, with no sign of strain to reach top notes. At his most original, his ideas are intriguing. By 2007, when this was recorded, however, he had moved on from the Fruscella-Joseph-Baker-Davis approach to harder facets more akin to Blue Mitchell, Freddie Hubbard and the Miles Davis of the sixties. His work on two Jimmy Heath pieces is notably reflective of Mitchell, and no Mitchell admirer can complain about Farinacci’s solo on “Mona’s Mood.” I am slightly troubled that a soloist of Farinacci’s evident abilities chooses to perform virtual approximations of muted Davis in “Flamenco Sketches” and “My Funny Valentine.” Davis did it brilliantly, so brilliantly that his muted work has been imitated for decades and has become a cliché. On open horn, Farinacci summons mid-sixties Davis in the opening out-of-tempo section of “What is This Thing Called Love,” but in the main body of his solo works his way into what the old-timers used to call original stuff. His exposition of the melody of “I Can’t Get Started” has intimations of Clifford Brown’s control and Brown’s use of grace notes, with improvisation in the solo that has a fine combination of elegance and passion.
Farinacci is still in his twenties and has recorded several other albums. I will seek out the others and follow his development with interest in the assumption that he is going through a period of assimilation and will come out of it with stronger indications of the individuality I heard in those few blues choruses on that Vaché DVD.
The US distributor of Sounds In My Life reports that the CD is out of stock, but this web site lists it at a bargain price.
Hey, I’m supposed to be on vacation this week. Look for further posts as they happenand they may.
Search Results for: Dominick Farinacci
Homage To Clifford—In Transit
Alto saxophonist Jeff Chang responded to yesterday’s Clifford Brown item with this message:
I don’t know if you’ve heard this guy Dominick Farinacci. He is quite a trumpet player, and you may find this clip fun to watch.
Oh, I’ve heard of Farinacci. The clip of him flawlessly spinning out a Clifford solo is, indeed, fun to watchunless you’re a trumpeter who has struggled trying to play it. This is the preamble to the video, which was posted on YouTube today.
Amidst an 18 city tour with vibraphonist Christian Tamburr, Dominick performs Clifford Brown’s classic solo from “Jordu” on the tour bus traveling to Hilton Head, SC. Clifford’s birthday was yesterday, Oct. 30th, and was one of the greatest trumpet players of all time.
If Farinacci hadn’t done that so well, I would not follow it with the original by Brown-Roach, Inc. The personnel are listed on the album cover.
For three Rifftides archive posts about Dominick Farinacci, go here.
Weekend Extra: Generations—”Honeysuckle Rose”
Fats Waller, composer, pianist, 1941, New York.
Aaron Diehl, piano; Dominick Farinacci, trumpet; 2009, St. Joseph of the Holy Family Church, New York.
Recent Listening: December 2nd Quartet
Some of the best new work of prominent American jazz artists is not on US labels, and not all of it is easy to find. Stars is a case in point. The pianist in the band known as the December 2nd Quartet is Dena DeRose, who sings on several tracks of this charming album. Bassist Ray Drummond and drummer Akira Tana, complete the rhythm section. The rising young trumpeter Dominick Farinacci is the fourth member. Benny Green is guest pianist on four of the 11 tracks. Recorded in California by the Vega label for the Japanese market, the album is available in the US as a pricey import unlikely to reach a wide audience. Still, connoisseurs have created a buzz about it.
The “stars” theme is hardly new, but it has rarely been pursued with more lyricism. DeRose’s piano solos, pure delivery of lyrics and unison piano-vocalise improvisations are among the pleasures in jazz these days. Her work here is on the high level she has established with her recent CDs for MaxJazz, her earlier ones for Sharp Nine, a stunning one-off duo collaboration with trumpeter Marvin Stamm and her hard-to-get first album with the December 2nd Quartet. DeRose’s treatment of “A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes” could revive that barely-remembered song from the old Disney cartoon feature “Cinderella.” The veterans Drummond and Tana meld smoothly with DeRose and with Farrinacci, whose intriguing freshness of conception is set on a foundation that indicates close study of Blue Mitchell, Clifford Brown and Miles Davis. His duet with Benny Green on “Stardust” consists of Hoagy Carmichael’s melody with slightbut most effectivevariations, a cadenza inspired by Brown and, throughout, a magic carpet of chords from Green. Green is on piano as DeRose sings and Farinacci solos on Fred Hersch and Norma Winstone’s “Stars,” a song that, despite its challenging intervals, could become a new standard.
Tana’s brushes accenting Bill Evans’ “Turn Out the Stars” set off Farinacci’s beautifully intoned delivery of the melody. DeRose’s solo maintains the grave, stately spirit of the piece. When Farinacci reenters, she is as much a duet partner with the trumpeter as an accompanist. The British singer Corinne Bailey Rae’s “Like a Star” lightens the atmosphere, DeRose giving the lyrics the dignity of straightforward interpretation. In solo and obbligato, Farinacci blows into a Harmon mute and DeRose executes a passage of her parallel piano-voice inventiveness. Her vocal on “Stars Fell on Alabama” is a highlight, matched by a Farinacci solo paying humorous tribute to Clark Terry and Sweets Edison. DeRose singing and Green accompanying her perform a classic version of “When You Wish Upon a Star.”
Through “Stairway to the Stars,” “Star Eyes,” and a couple of songs outside the stars theme”I Wished on the Moon” and “What Are You Doing the Rest of Your Life?”the December 2nd Quartet offers a relaxed program packed with musical substance. Too bad it has limited distribution outside Japan, but the CD is worth seeking out for superior performances by everyone involved.