Piazzolla Four Seasons of Buenos Aires, Gershwin Rhapsody in Blue, etc : Italian Saxophone Quartet

PIAZZOLLA FOUR SEASONS of Buenos Aires

Italian Saxophone Quartet:
Federico Mondelci, soprano
Mario Marzi, tenor
Marco Gerboni, alto
Massimo Mazzoni, baritone
with Paolo Zannini, piano

Astor Piazzolla: The Four Seasons of Buenos Aires
Astor Piazzolla: Fugata (from the suite “Silfos y Ondina”)
Anibal Troilo: Contrabajeando
Pedro Iturralde: Suite Hellenique
George Gershwin: Rhapsody in Blue
George Gershwin: Rialto Ripples Rag

Total Playing Time: 56:08

In this album for Delos, The Italian Saxophone Quartet - “musicality to burn-and technique likewise” (Il Messergero, Rome) - features the Piazzolla Four Seasons. Their performance here is a musical outgrowth of both the ISQ’s brilliant first recording for Delos (The Sound of the Italian Saxophone Quartet DE 3333), and lead saxophonist Federico Mondelci’s “rich, jazzy… hauntingly beautiful” (New York Times) Delos album of Piazzolla Tangos with the Moscow Chamber Orchestra (Piazzolla Tangos arranged for saxophone and orchestra DE 3252).

For those who have seen the ISQ - or Mondelci - on stage, their uninhibited, informal, fun-loving performance style translates beautifully to the audio-only format. Their albums never fail to capture even the casual listener’s attention. From one of their recent tours, the Monterey Peninsula Herald summed up this phenomenon very well: “Think you don’t like saxophone quartets? Oh my, think again! …A revelation . . . knocked me out from the first notes.”( Delos )