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Buy lossless digital version in our Bandcamp digital storeTracklist
01. Dead and Gone 02:46
02. Green Chimneys05:14
03. Dick Laurent is Dead 05:50
04. Acheetah 05:31
05. No Other Land/Silence 11:59
06. The Piano Player 04:55
07. Dedication 03:11
08. Hail to the Garbage 04:09
Total time: 43:42
Video
Credits
Recorded, mixed, and mastered by Francesco Ponticelli at Cicaleto Recording Studio in Arezzo
Artwork and layout by Mutteo Pin
Produced by Pierpaolo Zenni
Published by Aut Records
Description
N.O.P.E. (Nothing Outstanding, Please Exit) is the debut album by the quartet led by pianist and composer Pierpaolo Zenni, featuring Francesco Bigoni on tenor sax and clarinet, Pietro Paris on double bass, and Francesco De Tuoni on drums. The album presents a collection of original compositions deeply rooted in the Afro-American tradition — from spirituals and jazz to free jazz and hip-hop — often interwoven with episodes of radical improvisation. Alongside the original material, the quartet reinterprets music by Thelonious Monk, Andrew Hill and Charlie Haden, and includes a spiritual drawn from the Alan Lomax archives.
Extra-musical references act as conceptual frames throughout the record, shaping the atmosphere of the pieces without turning them into narrative programs. Composition and improvisation coexist within a unified sonic landscape built on close interaction, attention to timbre and a shared focus on collective sound. The result is a work that brings together musical materials from different eras and cultural contexts, reimagined through a contemporary perspective that preserves and highlights the radical spirit of the Afro-American tradition.
The album places musical materials from different eras, styles and cultural contexts in dialogue, where composition and improvisation coexist within a unified sonic framework shaped by constant interaction between the musicians and a strong focus on timbral detail.
