Insout

One of the things about Insout that hit's you almost immediately upon hitting the PLAY button is that these guys are not only acoustic and semi-acoustic jazz adventurists and explorers but they're also very accomplished, innovative motivational speakers in sound quality. Arrangements on this album ooze brilliance and originality with quiet reflection of the same creative pool that was waded through by the likes of the greatest progressive, jazz, and contemporary classical composers of our recent times!

Acoustic privacy is a superbly spiritually and beautifully realized album presented by world class musicians and composers that include Claudio Allia on piano and alto sax, Riccardo Samperi on guitars, drummer Paul Wertico, (multiple Grammy winner with the Pat Metheny Group) and with remarkable bass meanderings provided by bassist Alberto Amato on double bass.
Silent Hunger opens the album up with truly mood dividing euphoria in the piano and bass intro that makes way to jazz guitar and sax that literally remind you of how great it is to be alive! With some astonishing drums and percussion and with the completeness of soul nourishment you get from this track, it really is very hard to be distracted as your attention spans full tilt into the mood and characterizations that make this piece truly magnificent. Watch out for the way the guitar and sax work together to widen the curtains of delight to give you a view of a horizon so uplifting you won't want to come back down!

Prayer Warrior is a highly engaging piece of finger tapping, foot massaging eye widening jazz! Welcomed by the kind of audio dawn that the entire world needs to wake up to.. the sax, bass and guitar work are particularly outstanding and genuinely joy provoking. With the added touch of superb percussion and drum work, the piece takes you to places previously unexplored in contemporary and progressive 'front line' jazz. Every note and cymbal hit is exotic in delivery and infinite in performance.
Xandracos is the work of angels! Watch that piano transform itself into a pair of wings you never thought your ears had! At numerous levels, this lovely summer morning jazz instrumental is without doubt one of the most amazing tracks I have heard in the genre for years! I cannot imagine what was going through these guys minds at the production stage but it had to have been like a little piece of sun breaking through grey cloudy skies to reach parts of our world previously denied to the genre!

Expensive Mood on the other hand, explores the most colourful of dynamic mood themes in a way which deserves a standing ovation for innovation and originality. Gabriella's vocals are so intrinsically linked to the colossal event going on with the musicians that it's actually quite difficult to feel anything other than a sense of admiration and awe at the composition, arrangement, and production level. We have some of the most incredible drum work here especially in the support of the magnificent sax and guitar inserts.

Bubble Tea includes a fantastic sax and bass liaison that oozes brilliance. It's a heart sweeping track composed with passion and compassion and soul elevating jazz adventurism. Wouldn't you love to have been in on the session! Undeniably accomplished performances all round and a touch of gloss provided at every centimeter of the stereo image by the production team. Mouthfeel meanwhile, takes the listener on a little journey through that part of our inspiration and imaginings that we'd abandoned long ago when we were convinced we'd never hear the same kind of excellence ever again. Insout bring the mood and excellence back and we can once again revel in amazement and appreciation of just how superb these guys really are. Keep an eye on the piano and sax portraits.. they'll leave you literally screaming for more!

The seventh track on this superb album is Nocebo.. an Insout soundtrack for the soul! I don't know if the phone calls I received during this track were important or not.. nothing really seems important at all when you're listening to this remarkable piece and I have to ask.. when was the last time an instrumental did THAT? There's a terrifyingly beautiful sax piece in here that makes your mouth water and piano excerpts that send those palpitations sailing across a sea of pure bliss. By the time the stunning guitar phrases gain momentum... you're lost and you don't want to come back! Coelacanthus is the final track that you wish wasn't the final track. The title belongs to the prehistoric fish that everyone until relatively recently thought was extinct.. these fish have amazing fins and even more amazing lives but the music, not the fish, is what is truly astonishing! Francesco Cali's heavenly string arrangement is by far one of the most enlightening parts in the piece, and with Claudio's altruistic alto and beautifully rendered piano, you have life's mysterious essence(s) captured in multitrack.

Insout's Acoustic Privacy i - Colin Lynch - International Online Music Magazine

Take an ophthalmologist called Claudio Allia. Team him with a sound engineer who goes by the name of Riccardo Samperi. Add some red wine and zen. The setup is complete for the duo (of men) who go as Insout to compose and record, starting with their first effort, Trikke & Trakke.

On their second recording, the atmosphere is relaxed in its overall ambit as they sail in the climes of smooth jazz. Yet they don't just coast along—they add enough pith and bite to ruffle the waters and give the music an appealing depth through evocative melodies that they then take on an enticing enough journey. Allia has a soft gentle touch on the piano, a modulation that serves the songs well as he does on “Coelacanthus,” the wisp of a melody floating in before it gets a firmer shape and draws in a quintet of strings; they snuggle in and take the tune into New Age territory, with the acoustic guitar of Samperi completing the pastel-hued picture.

There is a nice cutting edge to “Bubble Tea,” Alberto Amato whipping in a curling bass line, Allia swaying and cutting swaths on the alto saxophone, Paul Wertico ticking the rhythm, his drumming spare but effective, and Samperi swinging with juicy notes. A different adjunct emerges in the darker ambience of “Expensive Mood” with overdubbed guitars, the lonely cry of the alto saxophone, and the soft vocals of Gabriella Grasso. Yet here is no getting away from its impact, which can also be said about the album as a whole. By Jerry D'Souza - All About Jazz