March 4, 2007

Cluster - Cement

Mixed-voice (3 men, 2 women) Italian a cappella jazz ensemble Cluster lets us know from the first sweetly dissonant, elegantly vocal percussioned notes of John Coltrane's "Giant Steps" that we're in for a treat. Cluster's website is a delightful mystery, all in Italian, but all but one of the 13 tunes (the brooding "Blinker bla") is in English, even the title tune, an original by group tenor Nicola Nastos. Jazzy covers of American pop and R&B songs like Billy Joel's "Just the Way You Are," a masterful arrangement of Phil Collins' "Against All Odds," Stevie Wonder's "Creepin'," the absolute finest arrangement of The Turtles' bubblegum hit "Happy Together" we�ve ever heard, and the Motown hit "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" are some favorites. Cluster are poised, confident risk-takers who are fast making their marks in the competitive European jazz/a cappella world. And "cement" is one of the best, most impressive debut CDs we've heard in years. Now it's time to put on the good headphones, pour a glass of the $20 Sauvignon Blanc, cue it up again and truly savor this masterpiece! 7621 CD 15.95
Listen to "Nobody's Wife"

Posted by acapnews at March 4, 2007 3:12 AM