London Tube

Tracklist

1. Fulham Broadway4:49
2. Holborn6:43
3. Kew Gardens4:30
4. Knightsbridge7:39
5. Parsons Green5:32
6. Covent Garden4:45
7. Leytonstone5:02
8. Chancery Lane2:47
9. Finchley Road7:20
10. London Tube4:42
11. Bow Church2:18

Personnel & credits

• Marina BarbensiDesign
• Lorenzo CalgaroDouble Bass
• Gianni BertonciniDrums, Electronics
• Michele CalgaroElectric Guitar
• Stefano AmerioEngineer [Sound Engineer]
• Michael GassmannGuest [Special Guest], Trumpet
• Mariagrazia GiovePhotography By [London Tube & Claudio Fasoli Photos]
• Roberto CifarelliPhotography By [Other Photos]
• Claudio Fasoli FourProducer
• Claudio FasoliTenor Saxophone, Soprano Saxophone, Liner Notes, Composed By

About this record

Genre

Jazz

Style

Contemporary Jazz

Discogs

View on Discogs ↗

Press

“As fast as a subway train and just as grounded”All About Jazz ↗

Reception

English-language critical reception centers on one substantial review: John Kelman's All About Jazz piece (6 Aug 2014), which is favorable. Kelman frames the record as the quartet's second outing after 2011's "Avenir" and praises its ability to move between swinging, rocking, fixed-form and ethereal-ballad material while keeping a unified, surprisingly light and elegant overall atmosphere; his verdict is that the album rewards repeated listening. The concept is consistently noted across listings: all-original compositions named after London Underground stops (Fulham Broadway, Holborn, Kew Gardens, Knightsbridge, Covent Garden, Leytonstone, Chancery Lane, etc.), used as a frame for moving from one mood/emotion to another. Michael Gassmann is described as the guest, contributing muted trumpet on four of the eleven tracks (a coloristic, not lead, role), so generic praise of the quartet should not be read as praise specifically of his playing. Beyond the AAJ review, English coverage is thin: AllMusic and Discogs list the record but no full critic review surfaced, and a Jazzwise page exists but returned a 404 when fetched. No Italian-, German-, or Swiss-language album reviews (All About Jazz Italia, JazzConvention, Musica Jazz, jazz'n'more, jazzthing, Concerto) surfaced for this specific release. The recording later had a touring afterlife: Fasoli performed a "London Tube" trio (without trumpet) at festivals such as Jazz on the Road in 2020.

Background

Recorded and mixed at Artesuono Recording Studios, Cavalicco (Udine), Italy, between June and November 2013; sound engineer Stefano Amerio; released 12 Sep 2014 on Abeat Records (cat. ABJZ135). Music composed and liner notes written by Claudio Fasoli. The Claudio Fasoli Four is an all-Italian group: Fasoli (tenor and soprano sax), Michele Calgaro (electric guitar), Lorenzo Calgaro (double bass) and Gianni Bertoncini (drums and electronics), with Swiss trumpeter Michael Gassmann as guest on four tracks (muted trumpet). It is the quartet's second album after "Avenir" (2011, Caligola Records). Conceptually the record uses a journey through the London Underground — eleven tracks named after Tube stations — as a device for shifting between emotional/musical landscapes, from backbeat-driven pieces to ballads. Fasoli (b. 1939) is a long-standing figure on the Italian scene, known since the 1970s for the Weather Report-influenced jazz-rock group Perigeo.