Giovanni di Domenico | Kalle Moberg | New Album, ‘Pangrams’
‘Pangrams’ is a collaborative album between Brussels-based Italian piano player Giovanni di Domenico and Norwegian accordion player Kalle Moberg. It is out now on Dropa Disc.
From Jim O’Rourke, Akira Sakata, Nate Wooley and Chris Corsano to Steve Noble and Manuel Mota, it’s clear that Brussels-based Italian pianist and keyboard player Giovanni di Domenico values collaborations. In February 2021 he invited the talented Norwegian accordionist Kalle Moberg (Large Unit, Circus) to join his New Mo(ve)ments Ensemble during a short residency at De Singer/Oorstof. Moberg and di Domenico took that opportunity to work together as a duo for the first time.
The recordings of that first meeting – without an audience due to the Covid crisis – can now be found on the haunting duo album ‘Pangrams’ for Dropa Disc, which will be officially released on June 1st. Sound In Motion, De Singer, AB and Kaap joined forces to bring Moberg and di Domenico back to Rijkevorsel to celebrate the release of ‘Pangrams,’ live on stage and this time with an audience.
“Joy and intellect, of abandonment and analysis, of pleasure and struggle, of Apollonian and Dionysian…”
How did you and Kalle get to know each other?
Giovanni di Domenico: I met Kalle thanks to my friend and collaborator Jim O’Rourke. I was in Japan playing with him and he told me about this great accordion player, after coming back I waited for an occasion to play with him, occasion that manifested itself after a couple of years. I organised a residency with a new group to record new compositions and thought about calling him. That recording will come out on the Italian label Canti Magnetici at the end of the year, but the same days that he was here for that residency we could find also a day to record in duo (thanks to Koen & Christel of Sound In Motion / Dropa Discs that helped us finding a place and setting up the recording…). So that’s how I met him….
What are the differences between you two?
I still don’t know him so well to be able to tell you our differences and such, but music is a fun way to slowly discover them.
‘Pangrams’ was recorded in one day. How do you remember that day? How do you remember the recording of ‘Pangrams’?
I remember that day very well. Firstly it was still in the Covid craze, so how can we forget that??? Then I recall the cold (it was February) and grey sky and the joy and surprise to play improvisations with a like minded musician on a beautiful Russian piano (at De Singer club).
“The real beauty of improvisation is to completely let yourself go”
The combination of piano and accordion is an unusual combination. Were you sure this combination would “work?”
Yes it’s kind of unusual, but I never thought it would not have worked, I mean I never set “before” rules or doubts on music. I mean before playing it (in this case, being improvised, for sure…then maybe with compositions or more structured work I can have an idea before…). The real beauty of improvisation is to completely let yourself go in the moment, always trying to keep a connection with your partner(s) but abandoning all possible “rules” and “routines.”
Did you do a lot of editing afterwards? How much did you record together? And how do you decide what to use for a recording for an album?
There’s no editing almost at all, a couple of things but basically what we played you hear in the album. We made two sets, like in an usual live situation, and then chose about the half of what we’ve recorded.
Should an album have a narrative? A story?
Yes, trying to give a narrative to the recording is important.
Do you make up this narrative during the editing (and not during the recording)?
I guess it’s done half in the recording and half in the listening back / choosing what goes on the album.
Should an album be a statement? Or is every album a snapshot? Is everything you do in a way “work in progress?”
Well I do not really see any “rules” in there. Of course every album is a statement by itself, in the same way it’s part of a path that can be only as a work in progress. For me it’s like a page that I turn every time I finish an album / composition or such. I can’t look back but only in front of me, so every finished “work” is prelude to the next one, nothing more.
If you play live together, do you present the album (or is an album and a live concert two different things)?
Well of course we present that album, but we won’t at all play the same music, just the same “idea” of music.
What does the title “Pangrams” mean? Or what does it mean to you?
Pangrams are sentences in which every letter of the alphabet is used. I thought it was funny, I like word games very much and thought it was a cool name, short, easy to remember and such (although we are not publishing anything). [Laughs]
Is your album with Kalle influenced by Luciano Cillio?
Well it’s not directly influenced by Mr Cilio, but I love his (unfortunately so little documented) music. I believe the multiple influences that we have (at least that I have, can’t talk for others) linger inside our body / mind all the time, so even if consciously I did not think about him in that album everything gets kind of mixed up inside and the ideal is to arrive at a kind of distillation of it.
In his recent biography, Bill Frisell said that sometimes music is “playing” as in “having fun,” toying around, messing around. And sometimes playing music is serious. He said that when he played with Elvin Jones, it was serious. When he plays with Joey Baron, it’s fun. When is playing music “fun” and when is it serious?
I am not sure I agree with that. I mean music is for me so much more than just “fun” and “serious.” And it’s constantly a mix between fun and serious…and all at the same time! Of course there are situations that can be more fun and others where concentration and focus are so strong that it becomes cathartic, but for me music and all that goes with it is the combination of joy and intellect, of abandonment and analysis, of pleasure and struggle, of Apollonian and Dionysian…
Joeri Bruyninckx
Headline photo: Giovanni di Domenico and Kalle Moberg | Photo by Hans van der Linden
Giovanni di Domenico Bandcamp
Kalle Moberg Official Website / Instagram
Dropa Disc Official Website / Facebook / Bandcamp
