Just a few minutes of the eponymous opening track on Aria., by the trombone/piano duo of Enzo Carniel and Filippo Vignato as Silent Room, is enough to lower my blood pressure and magically make me almost totally relaxed. The spell continues with Waterdreams, and it’s fascinating to me how such quiet and slowly moving music should be this soothing. Back when “new age” music was all the rage, I found that the supposedly calming effect often affected me in quite another way, making me unusually nervous. Happily, there are no pretensions in Silent Room, just two closely aligned performers, content to float along and bounce ideas off of one another as they meander through eight original pieces. Trombonist Vignato’s broad tones and slightly phrasing make an ideal match for pianist Carniel’s thick voicings and more assertive playing. Occasionally, as on Stretched Mirrors and the multi-part In All Nilautpala, there are mild electronic effects which serve to enhance the already subdued atmosphere. Things get a trifle stranger on the closing Aria ‘Electro” where the electronic treatments are more pronounced. The mellow feeling engendered by the rest of the disc remains largely intact, and makes me long for a follow-up that more deeply involves the subtle clouds of electronic wizardry. For now, Aria., the first effort from Silent Room, is a genuine pleasure to listen to, and easily recommended.
Menace MNC009 (CD, LP, download); Filippo Vignato (tbn) Enzo Carniel (p, prep p, Rhodes el p, synth); Arezzo, Italy, no dates specified; Aria/ Waterdreams/ Babele/ Stretched Mirrors/ Earth Echo/ Arbre d’Airain/ In All Nilautpala/ Aria ‘Electro”; 46:02. menaceparis.bandcamp.com/album/aria
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