One Mile Away Stefano Battaglia

• 1 Under Costruction 07:38
• 2 One Mile Away 10:11
• 3 Rock-D (Homage to Daniele Roccato) 05:14
• 4 Prelude For A Day Of Light 05:58
• 5 Salt & Berries 01:57
• 6 CCC 06:27
• 7 Tracce Delay 04:31
• 8 A Bushwick Tale 10:59
• 9 Impromptu #4 01:06
• 10 Waiting For What? 06:36
• 11 RAGA (Perspective Of The Things That Slowly Move Over A Different Time) 05:12
• Total Runtime 01:05:49

Info for One Mile Away

"One Mile Away" is an album that explores different sonic worlds, moving through sudden shifts in rhythm and scenery, free-form atmospheres, compositional risks, and more classic pieces with an innate melodic sensibility. The record alternates quintet compositions with works written for solo double bass, where avant-garde techniques play a central role.

This is how One Mile Away, the new recording project by double bassist Stefano Battaglia, presents itself. The album will be released on February 19 by Emme Record Label.

It is a fresh and dynamic work, where narration and action follow one another at a fast pace, breathing in the air of the Big Apple—where the artist has been living for some time—combined with a compositional freshness that permeates every track. The album moves seamlessly between high-energy quintet pieces and others in which intense, dramatic, and emotionally charged melodies take center stage. There is also space for solo double bass performances, where Battaglia masterfully employs bowing techniques, pizzicato, harmonic pizzicato, tape machine, and delay effects, creating a sonic bridge between past and present.

One Mile Away is a modern album, open to new musical languages, in which the double bass often assumes a leading role—without ever losing a deep respect for tradition, which here becomes the perfect starting point for moving forward and reshuffling the deck. It is no coincidence that several rising stars of the U.S. jazz scene took part in this debut work: Milena Casado on flugelhorn (who has collaborated with Terry Lyne Carrington, Kris Davis, Vijay Iyer, and Jorge Rossy), Morgan Guerin on tenor saxophone (with collaborations including Terry Lyne Carrington, Aaron Parks, Esperanza Spalding, and Nicholas Payton), Roberto Acosta on piano, and Avery Logan on drums.

In this album, each composition paints a clearly defined picture—made of music, colors, and lived experiences—conveying a simple and powerful message: happiness is not hidden in future events or in something that has yet to happen.

We are alive, and we live this life, this world, every day—and even if it’s just for one hour, it’s truly worth it. Live the present. Live the now. Good luck!” — Stefano Battaglia

Stefano Battaglia, double bass, composition
Milena Casado, flugelhorn
Morgan Guerin, tenor saxophone
Roberto Acosta, piano
Avery Logan, drums

Stefano Battaglia
Born in Milan in 1965, Stefano Battaglia originally trained as a classical pianist. He first attracted attention on the European festival scene, playing mainly baroque and 20th century music, before making the transition to music that incorporated improvisation, inspired initially by Paul Bley and Keith Jarrett. He cites Bley’s Open, To Love and Jarrett’s Facing You as critical encounters in his musical development. By the late 1980s he was winning jazz awards. Subsequently he has played with Lee Konitz, Dewey Redman, Marc Johnson, Barre Phillips, Steve Swallow and Kenny Wheeler, among many others.

Battaglia has been an ECM artist since 2003, when the double album Raccolto (Harvest) was recorded. Subsequent releases have included Re: Pasolini, a tribute to the Italian filmmaker and polymath, which includes contributions from Salvatore Maiore and Roberto Dani, and Pastorale, an album of duets with percussionist Michele Rabbia. Battaglia’s fourth ECM release, an organic-sounding piano trio recording entitled The River of Anyder (2011), was hailed as a “career-defining album of unsettling and unpredictable beauty” by John Kelman. On In the Morning Battaglia’s trio reflect on the work of American composer Alec Wilder (1907–80), best-known for his popular songs (recorded by Peggy Lee, the Mills Brothers, Frank Sinatra and others). The pianist says: “after working on Wilder’s chamber music I wanted to develop a deeper connection with his intriguing musical universe, and I've discovered an immense hidden treasure.”

Battaglia has given master-classes at the Siena Jazz each summer since 1988, and since 1996 he has led Siena’s Laboratorio Permanente di Ricerca Musicale, a musical research workshop, where he has been able to explore his interests in improvisation, composition and experimentation, in particular the diverse improvisational practices of different musical languages.

This album contains no booklet.