We first had the pleasure of seeing Julian Nalli perform at Caleb Elias' (review to come) Humber College Final Recital in the winter of 2010, and man we were blown away. Ever since then, we made it our mission to find, and listen to as much of his music as possible. Both unfortunately and fortunately (unfortunately because there is only one song, fortunately because the song is amazing), we've been listening to the one composition, "Vicissitudes", on his myspace page on repeat for the last two years. Yes we know...you don't need to say anything. Nevertheless, we waited and waited, and finally we were able to get a hold of Julian Nalli's debut album, which is yet to be released, and named officially. Now we get to listen to an additional five songs of his on repeat! Yes we know...you don't need to say anything. Anyways lets get into it. The album includes two different ensembles; with Julian Nalli (alto sax), and Eli Bennett (tenor sax) as the record's only permanent members. The first ensemble includes Paul Morrison on the piano, Josh Cole on the Bass, and Fabio Ragnelli on the drums. The second ensemble includes Hayoun Lee on the piano, Mike Downes on the bass, and Ethan Ardelli on the drums. Despite the change in members, Nalli's compositions remain wonderfully consistent over the course of the record. The first song to note is "Pass the Baton", which is performed by Nalli, Bennett, and the first ensemble. The song is characterized by harmonizing melody lines between the alto and tenor saxophones. It begins with a strong rhythm line on the piano by Morrison. As the rest of the band joins in, Nalli takes the first solo, and its pretty f***ing crazy btw (by the way). Then, out of nowhere, Bennett comes in with his equally amazing, yet different, style of improvising. The next song to note on the album is "Glow In The Dark". The song features Nalli, Bennett, and the second ensemble. This composition provides a change in pace on the album with its slower tempo. Once again, Nalli has no difficulty showing off his talent with another pretty f***ing amazing improvisation. However following this, the listener is serenaded with a beautiful solo by Canadian bass legend, Mike Downes. The song concludes with Nalli and Bennett replaying the, rather beautiful, melody line while Lee solos in the background adding to the climax of the piece. Well, now that this post is done, its time to go back to listening to the album on repeat. Yes we know...you don't need to say anything. We look forward to the album being officially released, and named for that matter. Julian...please don't let it be another two years before we get some knew music...its just not fair to all the available space on our itunes.
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