Review quotes translated from the original Italian.
“A coherent, well-built, mature, introspective record, full of nuance. A work that makes one think of Michele Perruggini as one of the musicians to watch in the stifling landscape of trite Italian musical offerings.”
Nicola Gaeta – Musica Jazz
“A work of research, able to question the present and to propose a modular construction that combines formal rigour and poetic imagination.”
Francesco Cataldo Verrina – Doppio Jazz Read the article →
“… This is Michele Perruggini’s fourth collection of original music, and once again the Bari drummer and composer shows his ability to turn deep reflections into living music, able to engage the listener and to leave room for pauses, details and nuances that speak directly to the soul. …”
Luca Paoli – Redapolis Music Read the article →
“The title takes up a famous Orwell epigraph from the novel 1984 – “It is not so much staying alive as staying human that is important” – and Perruggini translates it into a sonic drama: jazz with touches of avant-jazz, minimalism as a trigger and then a melodic opening, sincere and never self-indulgent.”
Livio Costarella – La Gazzetta del Mezzogiorno Read the article →
“An album that requires time and attention, rare commodities today, but that pays back with genuine emotional depth.”
Jazz in Family Read the article →
“Stay Human” stimulates reflection on contemporary anxieties, but also tries to exorcise them: well developed both compositionally and technically, it is precious material for anyone who loves the more meditative and elegant forms of jazz.”
Piergiuseppe Lippolis – Music Map Read the article →
“There is a fine discovery to be made, for those coming to his music only now: Michele Perruggini’s compositional and poetic vein. […] A solidly built and effectively realised work by a collective able to enhance the composer’s writing with its own contributions, “Stay Human” gives the term progressive jazz a personal twist.”
Tracce di Jazz Read the article →
“Set aside a moment of relaxation to appreciate Stay Human and its sophisticated, nuance-laden nature.”
Elvira Speggio – Musicalnews Read the article →
“STAY HUMAN is not just a record to listen to: it is an experience to go through. A work that invites you to slow down, to feel, to ask yourself questions.”
Daniele Milillo – Cirano Post Read the article →
“The sonic fabric moves naturally between contemporary jazz, chamber-music suggestions and sudden lyrical openings. […] Stay Human cannot be filed away as a mere aesthetic object; it behaves like a reflective surface, giving the listener back not so much a content as a cognitive stance. Music thus becomes a field of tension between the measurable and what exceeds measure, between the algorithm and purely human intuition. Staying human, then, is neither identity nostalgia nor a rejection of progress, but the radical, minority choice to inhabit complexity without reducing it to a reassuring synthesis. Perruggini entrusts music with the difficult task not of explaining the present but of cracking its surface, so that non-artificial thought may still find a crack to filter through.”
Riccardo Talamazzi – Off Topic Magazine Read the article →
“Michele Perruggini is a complete drummer and has the genius of someone who lets you savour the moments when the rhythm section can be gracious and never intrusive.”
Giancarlo Passarella – Musicalnews Read the article →
“We can only close with a warm invitation to listen to “Stay Human”, an excellent and courageous project by Michele Perruggini, an extraordinary composer able, in an age of pre-packaged music, to create a complex, never banal sonic architecture poised between jazz, melody, minimalism and classical crossover.”
Claudia Mastrorilli – Puglia Eccellente Read the article →
“Stay Human” is a well-made album with skilfully balanced sound, ensuring that no instrument prevails over the others. Although its lightness might suggest otherwise, the album is not for everyone; yet it has the potential to surprise listeners, especially those who, later in life, discover they enjoy this kind of sophisticated, nuanced music.”
Stefano Bonelli – Tempiduri Read the article →
“In truth, we are at the third dimension, or the squaring of the thematic triangle of contemporary jazz.”
Francesco Cataldo Verrina – Doppio Jazz Read the article →
“Disillusion is a work of overwhelming and moving beauty, of a kind rarely heard on the Italian and international contemporary music scene.”
Riccardo Talamazzi – Off Topic Magazine Read the article →
“Disillusion” is a strongly inspired work that confirms the artist’s great gifts, with excellent original compositions supported by a stellar cast.”
Gaetano Magliano – Albatros Magazine Read the article →
“Drummer Michele Perruggini’s work presents itself as a concept album and a stream of consciousness inspired by the many shades of human existence.”
Luciano Vanni – Jazzit
“Whoever listens to this record is led, by perseverance and tenacity, towards a clear horizon in search of light.”
Silvano Brambilla – Free Zone Magazine Read the article →
“The Varese label Abeat, among the many devoted to documenting Italian (and not only Italian) jazz, stands out for its search for sophisticated musicians with a precise melodic taste, often elegantly “crossover”. Such is the case of drummer Michele Perruggini.”
Claudio Sessa – Corriere della Sera
“Everything works wonderfully; the album almost drinks itself, so fluid, smooth and flavourful it is. Music that frankly surprised me beyond expectations, with a perfectly balanced ensemble able to offer a quietly intense atmosphere, far above the average of what I personally listen to these days – and not only in Italy.”
Riccardo Talamazzi – Off Topic Magazine Read the article →
“A fluid, well-recorded album whose compositions reveal Michele Perruggini’s talent and remarkable compositional skills; thanks to his ensemble he has once again created an album of intense lyricism, capable of a transversal, never banal jazz.”
Claudia Mastrorilli – Puglia Eccellente Read the article →
“… The result is a fascinating fresco, a record of intense narrative tension in which jazz is only one ingredient of the mix: in between we find echoes of Mediterranean music, references to Africa, classical passages, hints of new age and more. …”
Ivo Franchi – Musica Jazz
“Attraverso la Nebbia”, il nuovo cd di Michele Perruggini
by Ersilia Cacace · article in Italian
Qual è la funzione della musica nella nostra vita? Platone afferma che: “La musica è una legge morale. Essa dà un’anima all’universo, le ali al pensiero, uno slancio all’immaginazione, un fascino alla tristezza, un impulso alla gaiezza, e la vita a tutte le cose.” Già questa definizione potrebbe bastarci, ma se ci soffermassimo sulla parola di origine latina “persona”, apprenderemmo che indica “per-sonare”, ossia suonare attraverso se stesso. La musica, quindi, proprio per il nostro essere persone è parte inscindibile di noi, e noi non possiamo immaginare la nostra esistenza senza la musica. Citazioni ed elucubrazioni a parte…
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“Attraverso la Nebbia” di Michele Perruggini, percussionista e compositore pugliese, cd uscito in questi giorni, è un “discorso” musicale che comprende il jazz, il latin, il funk e la classica. Oltre ogni ragionamento tecnico – chi scrive non è un critico musicale – ebbene, Attraverso la Nebbia è un lavoro bellissimo, perché ciò che conta è quello che ti arriva dentro, le emozioni, le associazioni, le immagini che ne derivano, e questo lavoro ce ne trasmette tantissime. Sfogliando il booklet che troviamo all’interno del cd leggiamo queste parole di Michele Perruggini: “Nei tanti contesti in cui suono la batteria spesso mi capita di avvertire un desiderio così forte, quasi come se un colpo di tamburo si potesse spingere con tale passione sulla pelle da trasformarsi in qualcosa di più, in un suono più ampio, un armonico, una nota, un accordo, una dissonanza. Un qualcosa insomma che facesse più musica e non solo ritmo, che rivelasse meglio le profonde sensazioni che provo durante un concerto. Attraverso la Nebbia nasce per questo motivo, per il solo desiderio di poter dar finalmente vita anche alla musica che porto dentro e al cui servizio, come sempre, mi presto umilmente, con gioia e infinita gratitudine.”
Michele, come è nato questo progetto musicale?
“È un’esigenza che avvertivo da tempo. Ho sempre provato spontaneamente a comporre qualcosa con ogni strumento con cui ho avuto un contatto, e dopo tanti anni di vita musicale spaziando in tanti generi diversi tutto è venuto fuori inevitabilmente. Quindi si tratta di un lavoro molto sentito e realizzato dopo 28 anni circa di vita da musicista.”
Michele, puoi dirci di più?
“Il disco contiene dodici brani difficilmente ‘etichettabili’ poiché sconfinanti in vari generi. C’è parità di spazio alle parti scritte e a quelle improvvisate. Unica e vera protagonista è solo la Musica, non i musicisti e tantomeno i canoni stilistici. Il pianoforte è il vero centro focale del disco, strumento con cui ho composto il tutto e che amo intensamente.”
