Josh Deutsch / Nico Soffiato Duo

Trumpeter Josh Deutsch and guitarist Nico Soffiato have been playing together in a duo setting since 2006, when they both fortuitously sublet rooms in the same Boston apartment. Over the last year, Nico and Josh have been compiling a set of music composed specifically for this ensemble, including several co-written works. The duo setting allows for a level of transparency, interaction and sonic exploration which can be lost in larger ensembles. Josh and Nico have embraced the challenges and possibilities of writing for this duo, and created a book of original music, borrowing from some of their favorite classical, jazz and pop ideals, and ranging from electronic loops to entirely acoustic pieces, balancing carefully crafted compositions with space for exciting improvisation and interaction. The duo just released its first CD, "Time Gels", available now from CDBaby and iTunes.

Here's a review of the album by Matthew Warnock:

Jazz duos come in all shapes, colors, textures and timbres. From the classic voice and piano duo, to the double-guitar teams of legendary performers such as Herb Ellis and Joe Pass, or the more modern Joe Diorio and Mick Goodrick, and everything in between. Jazz performers have long loved the harmonic, melodic and rhythmic freedom that the duo setting provides, and many have produced some of the most enduring records of the entire genre in this format, the great duo records of Jim Hall and Bill Evans come to mind in this category. Two young lions who have recently delved into the realm of the jazz duo are trumpeter Josh Deutsch and guitarist Nico Soffiato, and their new album Time Gels is an elegant, fresh take on this timeless tradition.

When performing in a duo, mostly due to the lack of other musicians, one has to bear in mind that contrasting textures and musical diversity are the key elements when programming a successful record. This lesson has not been lost on Deutsch and Soffiato, as the duo mixes countless timbres and many different grooves, harmonic ideas and feels throughout Time Gels. There are simple, yet effective, ostinato based moments in songs such as the album's opener "De Sidera," where the duo kicks off the track with an ear-grabbing repeated line that is played on the seldom used, yet beautiful sounding, baritone guitar by Soffiato. The song then moves into a weaving melodic line that floats over some tricky and interesting harmonic changes.

Proving that they aren't one-trick ponies, the duo can also lay down a jazzy groove, such as the Waltz-like track "Topanga Canyon." Here, the listener catches a glimpse of the duo's standard jazz vocabulary, at least their interpretation of the jazz tradition. There are moments where one can follow the lineage of each performer, who they've studied and where they've come from musically, yet it is always projected through the lens of their own personalities. This yin and yang, mixing recognizable rhythms and phrases with a unique approach to the genre, is one of the biggest reasons why this album is so successful, and why each player has managed to make a name for themselves in the crowded, modern-jazz world.

Branching off into a more contemporary, dissonant flavor, the duo showcases their love and deep understanding of modern jazz with the song "Time Gels #2." Here we find the duo at their experimental best. Beginning with a free-flowing introduction by Soffiato that brings to light his openness as a musician, as well as his endless trough of melodic ideas, the song then melds into an ostinato bass-line and melody performed by Deutsch on the trumpet. The interaction between both musicians is exemplary, running the gamut from soloist and accompaniment, to both players gelling at the highest level. One of the most interesting moments on this track, or any on the album, is the Flamenco clapping that enters in the last third of the piece. With the trumpet playing a repeated melodic fragment, the clapping elevates the music to new heights of interest, leading the listener into unexpected, yet fully appreciated rhythmic territory. Again, this is another example of the duo taking a chance with a new texture, and hitting the nail square on the head.

There is always the sense that musicians are taking a chance when they perform in a duo setting, that the music could become monotonous or that it can get too far out that the listener's becomes lost in the musicians' experimentation, but it is albums like this that show time and again why the duo is such a strong format for the jazz genre. These two musicians perform as a cohesive unit, with improvisational vigor and mature musicianship, all elements that are needed to produce a record of the highest caliber.

Review by Matthew Warnock
Rating: 5 stars (out of 5)

AUDIO CLIPS:

Topanga Canyon - (N. Soffiato)

Time Gels #2 (J. Deutsch)

Bassifondi (N. Soffiato)

VIDEO:

Individual Bios:

Nico Soffiato, Italian guitarist, composer and educator, currently lives in Brooklyn, NY. After receiving his Master's degree in philosophy with a thesis on the ontology of music, he moved to Boston. There he attended Berklee College of Music, thanks to a Best Entering Talent Students scholarship, and graduated magna cum laude. At Berklee he studied performance and composition with David Tronzo, Jon Damian, Hal Crook, Ed Tomassi and Jeff Galindo to mention a few. During his stay he was awarded a second scholarship: the Berklee Achievement Scholarship. Nico was also selected to be part of an all-guitar ensemble whose members included notable alumni like Bill Frisell, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Mike Stern and Wolfgang Muthspiel.

In New York, aside from being the front man of the Nico Soffiato Quartet, he leads the improvised music group Paradigm Refrain with which he's been performing for over two years at a monthly residency in Brooklyn. The group has a diverse cast and guests have included: David Tronzo, Nate Wooley, Sunny Kim, Marco Cappelli, Bruno Raberg, Danilo Gallo, Zeno de Rossi, Alessandro Fedrigo, Piero Bittolo Bon, Nick Falk, Petr Cancura, Giacomo Merega, Federico Casagrande, Brian Adler, Noah Kaplan and many others.

Nico co-leads a duo with trumpeter Josh Deutsch and they will be releasing a record in early 2011.

As a sideman and solo performer, Nico has performed extensively in the US and Italy.

"...with creative treatments and impressive attention to nuance, the ensemble crafts intriguing, enigmatic music that stands out from the otherwise oversaturated jazz scene and its tired sound." - John Engelman, Knocks from the Underground NYC

"One of the rising young players in this post-free, modern jazz genre is Italian composer and guitarist Nico Soffiato...a player who has studied the greats during his upbringing, but has also managed to develop a unique voice along the way; not an easy task for any player to achieve." –Matt Warnock

Josh Deutsch is a trumpeter and composer, living in Queens, New York. Originally from Seattle, Josh has performed throughout the country and internationally, both with his own projects and as a sideman. Josh holds degrees from the New England Conservatory of Music and the University of Oregon, and has studied with Bob Brookmeyer, Danilo Perez and John McNeil. As a 3-time participant at the Banff International Jazz Workshop, Josh worked closely with Dave Douglas, Kenny Werner and Bill Frisell.
Current projects include the Josh Deutsch Quintet and the Josh Deutsch / Nico Soffiato Duo, which will release its debut album in 2011. Josh can be heard on recordings with the groups Four Across, The Poisonous Birds and Brian Adler’s Helium Project. His recent New York performances have included shows at the Stone, the Jazz Gallery and on Dave Douglas’s Festival of New Trumpet Music. In 2008, Josh was named Downbeat Magazine’s Student Music Awards College Jazz Soloist winner.

“Deutsch plays with a wide, soft tone, concealing the transition from melody to solo and connecting the different parts of each piece into a very unified flow.” – Earshot Jazz Magazine