THE ZONE is a concept album about beauty and possession, hope and fears, desire and love
The album is written by Italian composer Daniele Del Monaco for a band of performers fom New York City who are usually affiliated with avant-jazz and free improvisation.
Through the interaction of the five musicians, guided by Del Monaco’s experimental sensibility on keys and sound generators, this recording turns out a unique and ambitious combination of Fay Victor’s urban jazz vocals, Marco Cappelli’s guitar, combining elements of classical music and free improvisation, the at times extreme dynamics of Satoshi Takeishi’s performance on the drums, and the virtuosity of bassist Ken Filiano.
Del Monaco’s radical approach to creating music is rooted in a slow process of working through a score with classical musicians and free improvisers, balancing meticulous compositions with the setting of parameters for free improvisation.
In his lyrics, Del Monaco appropriates the words of Persian poet and mystic Farid al-Din‘Attar’s epic ‘The Conference of the Birds’ and Andrei Tarkovsky’s ‘Stalker’ to create a narrative in which the ideas and imagery of poets and philosophers interact. Byron, Keats, Diogenes, Thoreau and Buddha all meet within the framework of ‘Attar’s journey in search of truth and the Stalker’s journey through ‘The Zone’. The search for the mythical room within is capable of granting a person their innermost desires. The result is a set of seven songs filled with allusive and symbolic imagery, exploring the relationship between beauty and possession.
The majority of the album was recorded between 2018 and 2019 by Alessandro Benedetti in Rome, Italy. Benedetti tragically passed away before the sessions were finished, at which point Martin Bisi in Brooklyn, NY took over the recording work. The album’s journey then continued on to Sheffield UK, where it was completed and mixed by producer Thomas Lebioda for Studio III Recordings in 2020.
Throughout its development, a number of guest musicians have accompanied Del Monaco for live performances of The Zone: Blixa Bargeld, Theodosii Spassov and Marco Ariano joined the LCP Percussion Quintet in October 2014 for a first performance at Centro Campania in Caserta, IT. In November 2018, Marc Ribot joined the Band for a rendition at the Auditorium Parco della Musica in Rome, IT, organised and produced by RomaEuropa festival.
the record has idiosyncratically roused some attention from the most opposite types of music critics: punk, jazz, classical, progressive rock…
Daniele Del Monaco, joined by a stellar cast of musicians, has here manifest this long-form composition functioning on many levels: as a lyrical work of philosophy, an expression of longing, a compendium of provocative definitions. Its all wrapped up in a music of great currency: electronic, jazzy, noisy - a thrill in every direction.
Years ago I wrote an ensemble piece called 'Edible Weeds'. Your wonderful weeds became an Orto Botanico- a botanical garden. Did I hear that “I heard the old man say wail” or was it "whale"? ...during this amazing space walk, where I stepped out of my capsule right into the music without any change of tempo.
Witnessing the creation of The Zone was a remarkable experience. Following its evolution over time, up to this album, has been even more memorable. I keep this project among the few that are definively unforgettable.
