Marco Pignataro - Chant For Our Planet (CD)

Release Date: 10/21/22

Jazz saxophonist Pignataro's call for better stewartship of our planet, with multi-Grammy winning septet of Lovano, Patitiucci, Carrington etc..

Saxophonist/composer Marco Pignataro's third ZOHO CD Chant for Our Planet is a stirring, magnificent clarion call for better stewardship of our shared home, our planet. For this project, Pignataro assembled a veritable cast of Multi-Grammy winning jazz all-stars: John Patitucci (bass), Joe Lovano (saxophone), Terri Lyne Carrington (drums) and Chico Pinheiro (guitar), as well as the emerging talents of Anastassiya Petrova (piano) and Nadia Washington (vocals), both Berklee Global Jazz Institute alumni and faculty at Berklee College of Music.

Suite: Terra - Mare - Cielo (Earth - Sea - Sky) composed by John Patitucci, is an elegant, evocative tour-de-force which immediately sets the asserting tone of the album. Throughout you hear musical representation of the various elements found across our planet. Patitucci's bass solo may be a simulacrum of earth itself, grooving and even bellowing from underneath. Washington's vocals float above, an aerial loop that lifts the piece. The evolving number shines the light on every band member, showing that it will take a unified effort to play and ultimately live together.

Agua de Beber (water to drink) is a well-known piece by Antônio Carlos Jobim, which was arranged by BGJI alumnus & faculty Edmar Colon. The piece begins with an unfolding bass line with well-placed cymbals, which create space for Washington's vocals and featuring powerfully propulsive solos by Marco on tenor sax and Chico Pinheiro on guitar. The choice of this famous composition is a nod to the importance of water and its management, as fresh water becomes increasingly under threat from contamination. The United Nations projects that the risk of floods will increase dramatically over the coming decades, which could threaten 3.2 billion people.
Moon Threads composed by Pignataro is a thoughtful musical meditation. He pondered the way in which the moon affects the tides, and how the sea bulges due to centrifugal forces. Kabir Sehgal, producer.