Total Joy

I would recommend this disk to everyone as a total life enhancing joy. All'Improvviso by L'Arpegiatta led by Christine Pluhar with Gianluigi Trovesi on clarinet and the beautiful voices of Marco Beasley and Lucilla Galeazzi. I suppose it could be called a crossover disk of early music, world music and a little jazz but it is such a seamless and timeless mix that there doesn't seem anything contrived about it and there is a joyous timeless feel. There is a subtitle of Ciacone, Bergamasche...& un po'di Follie also Les Chants de la Terre. The base for the music is in the 16th and 17th centuries and these traditions are scrupulously respected but the players are allowed to improvise freely and all have enough taste nit to include anything totally incongruous. As well as the featured clarinet which gives the occasional jazzy tinge, the regular members of L'Arpegiatta are solidly there in support with such as theorbo, baroque harp and guitar, psaltery, contra bass and various early variants on violin and viola. I've waxed lyrical before about the voice of Marco Beasley and Lucilla Galeazzi has a similar style that sits outside of any regular genre. You will not regret buying this record.