Italian bassist
Furio Di Castri leads this quartet through a series of daintily executed yet exuberantly performed modern jazz pieces also featuring generous doses of Mediterranean-style melodies, swing-based vamps, oscillating rhythms, and animated interplay. Clarinetist
Mauro Negri and marimba performer
Andrea Dulbecco enjoy a harmonious relationship throughout this upbeat affair, whereas the bassist's pronounced lines and drummer Bill Elgart's multifarious sense of swing round out a recording that gleams with innocence, subtle beauty, and inventive improvisational speak. The musicians also explore free bop motifs, march-like beats, and proceed with a quiet fire as
Di Castri anchors the band through linear passages amid the soloist's sprightly sequences of call and response type dialogue. The musicians also render zestful translations of several
Thelonious Monk compositions among various originals by members of the band. Essentially, "Wooden You" represents a multihued portrait of like-minded artists who share similar goals and is indicative of the very imaginative and altogether resourceful 1990s Italian jazz scene, which often brandishes a mark of distinction when viewed upon as a whole. ~ Glenn Astarita