Misinterprotato: Press

This release from the Brisbane piano trio with and intriguing name sounds even more classically influenced than their 2005 album “In is In”. Pianist and leader Sean Foran has composed most of the pieces , with another three by drummer John Parker. Island of the Sun establishes a bossa-beat before the piano begin a running fugue like theme. This builds to a crashing crescendo of a solo followed by Pat Marchisella’s fast moving bass interlude, preceding a return to theme.
Several guest artists make an appearance: violin, viola, alto sax, plus Peter Knight’s moodily expressive trumpet on an introspective ballad Ascent.
A more energetiic approach is used on Chunk. A jagged polyrhythmic exposition with free jazz style clashes between the instruments.
The final track Labyrinth, is a completely improvised soundscape using prepared piano, sliding bass harmonics, and a busy but not overpowering drum kit.
A fine example of contemporary music in various tempos, incorporating a range of moods and drawing extensively on diverse classical references fused with 21st century jazz ideas. (4 stars) John McBeath

In 2003, Misinterprotato named its debut album Now For The Free. Four years on, the Brisbane group is continuing to explore what freedom might represent in the context of a jazz trio. On their new album, Variations, the musicians make judicious use of effects (prepared piano, distorted bass) and guest artists to expand the parameters of the classic piano-bass-drums format.
Launching Variations in Melbourne on Sunday night, the trio kept these effects and additions to a bare minimum. Sean Foran prepared his piano slightly on two pieces, producing a faint but audible ‘buzz’ in the keyboard’s lower register. And Melbourne trumpeter Peter Knight joined the trio for a free improvisation and one composed piece (Ascent), his beautifully muted tone enhancing the tune’s innate lyricism.
For the most part, though, the ‘variations’ in mood and texture were created purely by the interplay among the trio members. Foran and drummer John Parker have been working together since 1999, and are so familiar with each other’s playing that even their freely improvised pieces have an intuitive structure and logic. Bassist Pat Marchisella joined the group a year ago, but his muscular and interactive approach means he is already an equal contributor to the trio’s sound.
Sunday’s program alternated between driving, intensely dynamic numbers and tunes with a more delicate, textural feel. Several compositions combined both moods: Branching Out was propelled by vigorous, rapid arpeggios from piano and bass, and also incorporated a spacious interlude featuring Parker’s feathery brush strokes.
Foran and Parker (the trio’s composers) are both fond of odd time signatures and rhythmic division and displacement, yet their metric tricks never interrupted the music’s flow. This was especially apparent on the night’s ambitious but satisfying closer, Variations on a Bad Day – a bracing, dramatic piece filled with the kind of imaginative spirit that can turn a bad day into an unexpected adventure. Jessica Nicholas