Italian quality images displayed in a true Intra-European 17-piece gallery

Italy is not the cheapest country of the world, at least not anymore. But it has always claimed to be the most qualitative – in everything from food to clothes. Without entering into an Intra-European debate about whether Italian claims for fashion superiority are of substance, or merely nationalistic hype, it feels good to know that the music scene is far more unified and neutral among artists and often its audience as well. So the message is, don't even pay attention where artists come from or where they live, take the music as it is. Music advances peace and unity.

Roberto Dani, a drummer and composer with an international track record of performances and collaborations across Europe, Japan, the United States and South America, is a responsible leader on his introductory Images. "Responsible" here means he is a producer and leader who truly cares for the final product. Much attention is paid on final details. The album of 17 tracks, most of them on the shorter side, features British vocalist superieur Norma Winstone, pianist Glauco Venier and cellist Henning Sieverts. Dani is a colorful, artistic and charismatic thinker, who offers seven "Image" tracks, which function as bridges or preludes – perhaps "mood setters" – to the following composition very nicely. Venier and Dani are in sync throughout, and where Dani's color palette ends, Venier continues with extended harmonies. Winstone's contribution feels at times a bit loose on this well-planned disc as if she wasn't quite as familiar with the music. Sieverts' role falls somewhere in between Venier and Winstone. So the band is not quite a balanced quartet, but a stunning Dani-Venier duo with the other two musicians floating on top. Had it not been for gorgeous sonority contributions by Winstone and Sieverts, this could have been an intimate duo album, much like of "Ruta and Daitya" (ECM Records, 1973) by Keith Jarrett and Jack DeJohnette or perhaps Sound of Village (Blue Music Group, 2000) by Finnish pianist Mika Pohjola (who is a long-time Roberto Dani collaborator) and multi-percussionist Yusuke Yamamoto. But let's not get too far off the reality, this album is a quartet release, and a very enjoyable one.

Stylistically, "Images" could indeed be – as many other albums on Blue Music Group – an ECM release. Dani has actually recorded with pianist Stefano Bollani for Manfred Eicher's label, and no wonder, both gentlemen hear music much in the center of what ECM produces. But to hear Roberto Dani's own soul, buy Images, or his more recent Drama, a provocative solo percussion album, also on Blue Music Group. If you generally like ECM albums, you'll definitely enjoy Roberto Dani, who is a significant artist on the European jazz scene.