Franco Ambrosetti's New Strings Album 'Sweet Caress' To Be Released in Immersive Sound

Franco Ambrosetti applies his Sweet Caress to his second album of ballads with strings arranged by Alan Broadbent with John Scofield, Peter Erskine, Scott Colley, Sara Caswell & Orchestra. The album will be released in an immersive sound format on Enja Records on CD, LP, and download beginning August 9.

A companion piece to Franco Ambrosetti's previous strings collaboration with pianist-arranger Alan Broadbent on 2022's Nora, the sublime ballads album Sweet Caress finds the Swiss trumpet legend addressing such jazz classics as Mal Waldron's "Soul Eyes," Charlie Haden's "Nightfall," Les Alrich's melodic and mellow "Old Friends" and J. Russel Robinson's "Portrait of Jennie," a tune originally written for a 1948 movie of the same name and which became a hit song later that year for Nat King Cole before being covered by J.J. Johnson, George Shearing, Blue Mitchell, Red Garland, Oscar Peterson and Wes Montgomery. It was even included on Clifford Brown with Strings, the 1955 album that ignited Ambrosetti's youthful ambition to pursue jazz.

Soulful with a touch of poignant introspection and melancholy, Sweet Caress recalls Frank Sinatra at his apex looking back on his life and career on September of My Years, his landmark album from 1965 with sumptuous orchestrations by great arranger Gordon Jenkins. And as Gil Evans once called Miles Davis "a singer of songs" in their landmark collaborations together (1957's Miles Ahead, 1958's Porgy and Bess, 1960's Sketches of Spain), so it is with Franco and his arranging partner Broadbent, who has fashioned a comfy bed of strings for Ambrosetti to lie on. And the trumpeter responds with some of his most heartfelt playing of his storied career on Sweet Caress, which casts a spell allowing listeners to get lost in reverie, recalling past loves, precious moments and golden memories of times gone by.

Backed by an all-star core group consisting of pianist Broadbent, guitarist John Scofield, bassist Scott Colley and drummer Peter Erskine, augmented by a 29-piece orchestra arranged and conducted by Broadbent, Ambrosetti pulls heartstrings on a winning program that includes four Franco originals in the alluring "Habanera," his sparkling "Colors of the Wind," the tender "When the Sun Never Sets" and the beguiling title track.

"This is actually the third album that I did with strings," said Ambrosetti. "The first one was with Don Sebesky at the end of the '70s for Gryphon, an American label [Sleeping Gypsy, released in 1980]. Over the years, I decided that I wanted badly to do another album with strings, because the more you age, the more you have to say in a ballad. When I was a young musician, it was all about beating Chet Baker in a jam session with fast notes. That was my goal. But then with age, you start to understand that a ballad brings you to a different mood and you want to express that. And now, at my young age of 82, it is an immense satisfaction to play ballads and interpret a melody like this."

As arranger for Sweet Caress, Franco made the perfect choice in Broadbent, who served as arranger-conductor on Ambrosetti's previous orchestral project, 2002's Nora. A native of New Zealand and longtime resident of Los Angeles who wrote and arranged for Woody Herman's bands of the '70s and Charlie Haden's Quartet West during the '80s, Broadbent had apprenticed under Nelson Riddle before serving as arranger-conductor on orchestral recordings for Natalie Cole, Paul McCartney, Diana Krall, Shirley Horn, Michael Bublé, Andrea Bocelli, Mel Torme, Michael Feinstein, Steve Tyrell, Sheila Jordan, Abbey Lincoln, Jane Monheit, Marian McPartland, Kristin Chenoweth and Scott Hamilton. Through all of those projects, he brought his own unique skills to the table as arranger. "One thing I love about music is that, just through notes you can move people and be moved," said Broadbent. "Whether it's jazz, classical, popular music or standard songs, if it has that certain human quality to it, that's what I am looking for. And if it can be art on top of that, so much the better."

Throughout Sweet Caress, Broadbent does not shy away from dark voicings and downright dissonance, if needed. "Because that, to me, is where the love is, where the soul is," he said. "It's in those details. There's a saying that goes, 'the devil is in the details.' But if you pay attention to those details in art, it's paying attention to all of our feelings. And in our own little way, we can contribute to that kind of feeling."

Following their first encounter together on Nora, Broadbent pointed out how collaborating with Franco was like "two musical souls finding each other." That truth is even more apparent on Sweet Caress, which continues that intimate, intuitive chemistry between the two musical souls. "We all know as musicians, within a few bars of playing music together, whether we have an affinity for this person or not," Broadbent explained. "You resonate together like tuning forks, and from that comes the music. So I am just very fortunate that Franco heard something in me that he felt close to.

Broadbent continued, "I've always wanted to have passion in everything that I do as a musician, and Franco has allowed me to do that. Because although I'm a passionate pianist, I like to translate that feeling as well into an orchestra, which I believe is the most beautiful thing on the face of the planet. And here I am, writing for this marvelous instrument - the orchestra - with my feelings projected onto Franco's. So it's a deeper experience than just being entertained. There is something deeper here."

Sweet Caress is scheduled for an August 9th release on the Enja label.

TRACKS

01 Soul Eyes [06:44]

02 Portrait Of Jennie [05:43]

03 Sweet Caress [05:05]

04 Habanera [07:42]

05 Nightfall [07:00]

06 Old Friends [05:41]

07 Colors Of The Wind [06:21]

08 When The Sun Never Sets [06:33]

Total [49:29]

PERSONNEL

Franco Ambrosetti - Flugelhorn

Alan Broadbent - Piano, Arranger, Conductor

John Scofield - Guitar

Scott Colley - Bass

Peter Erskine - Drums

Sara Caswell - Violin, Concertmaster

Jeff Levenson - Producer

Recorded and mixed by Jim Anderson

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