Liner Notes
Denis DiBlasio & Dave
Mancini: One On
One
(Sons of Sound SSPCD202)
Dave Mancini and Denis DiBlasio have been performing
together since 1981 when they both joined the Maynard
Ferguson Band. It was Maynard himself who led to
them playing as a duo.
Dave recalls the incident:
'We were on tour with the band. During one of
our concerts, while Denis was in the midst of an
unaccompanied flute solo, Maynard came up behind
me and said, "Drummer man, why don't you grab
a cowbell and go out front and play with him." It
was completely unplanned, but I trusted Maynard's
instinct. I went out there and started playing.
Denis fell into step with me and the audience loved
it.”
As Maynard continued to let the duo perform, Dave
began to experiment with the formula.
“One evening I decided that I would bring
out my agogo bells. When Maynard heard the combination
of Denis' flute and my agogo bells, he liked ft
so much that he featured our duet at almost every
concert from that point on.'” It is this
musical combination that is represented on this,
their first album as a duo, - with the tune, "Fungi
Mama."
Since leaving Maynard's band, Dave and Denis have
continued their association, performing together
and developing further the duo-concept. The process
has been a fruitful one. Denis notes, 'Dave and
I have experimented with all styles of music, including
many tunes that we created on spur of the moment
improvisations. Performing as a duo provides us
with a great deal of creative freedom to express
ourselves in a variety of ways. It enables us to
be as spontaneous as we would like to be without
needing to take into account whether or not the
musicians in a larger ensemble are familiar with
our music.'
The high caliber of interplay between Dave and
Denis was evident in the recording process of One
On One. 'The album was done live to two track,
without overdubs or edits of any kind,' Dave explains.
'And the entire thing was recorded in five hours.
Denis and I preferred ft this way. Prior to the
recording session we had only performed two of
the tunes as a duo, but we wanted everything to
sound fresh and to capture the energy of the moment.'
All of the above is not to imply that either Dave
or Denis do not enjoy performing in other than
duo situations, however. In fact, they plan to
records quartet albumin the very near future. They
are also currently active as artist/clinicians
for the Yamaha Music Corporation, and each year
make numerous appearances as guest soloists with
college and high school jazz and concert ensembles
across the country. Their visits to schools usually
involve one or two day residencies, where the music
to be performed in concert is rehearsed with students,
and workshops on jazz improvisation, as well as
master classes on their respective instruments
are held.
'At our clinics we involve all the students so
that everyone gets to try improvising, whether
they've done it before or not,' Dave comments.
'Likewise, at the concerts, ft's our policy to
get all of the students on stage to participate.
Everyone gets a chance to improvise a solo. What
Denis and I try to do is reveal the rewarding and
enjoyable experience that playing music is for
us. As the students perform, they discover what
they're capable of. Hope fully, they'll be inspired
and further motivated while experiencing first
hand that playing music can be fun. And ft should
be fun, because if ft isn't, why bother?'
A commendable philosophy, and fittingly done justice
on this, their debut album, One On One.
— Larry Trivieri
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