Enrico Pieranunzi

There is, from a master of his standing, the obvious expectation as one looks at the label and then there is sheer intrigue as the cork is popped and the first sounds heard. “Wine & Waltzes” we are promised, but the maestro allows his idea to breathe for a little time, tempting us first with a sweetly lyrical “nose” and then suggesting something sharper and more ambiguous underneath. When we describe a wine as “complex”, we are paying it a compliment. When we say it of a musician, sometimes we are admitting that we don’t understand, maybe find his music a bit challenging. Pieranunzi smooths all that away. He adds layer on layer of taste, persuades us that a second glass and a fresh bottle would be acceptable. In “B.Y.O.H.” and “Twoliness” he even offers a little mild intoxication. No escaping it: this is vintage jazz". (Brian Morton)