That's it (Oriundo)

When Rome-born, Paris-based drummer and composer Simone Prattico released the remarkable Oriundo in 2021, he brought to bear all the rich experience he’s gained as an itinerant musician for the last 25 years. The closing “That’s It,” with a 15/8 groove played on hybrid drumkit to evoke Neapolitan, Brazilian and Moroccan sounds, held promise for further exploration. With his new EP That’s It: Oriundo, Prattico follows through on that promise, teaming up in successive duos with fellow Italians living abroad. These illustrious musicians — Paolo Fresu, Eric Legnini, Vincent Peirani, Piers Faccini and Marcello Giuliani — share with Prattico the status of “oriundo,” a term referring to Italian immigrants or their descendants born outside of Italy who are therefore “foreigners at home.”

“That’s It,” the inspiration for this new set of music, epitomizes what for Prattico has become a calling card: the hybrid groove, whether in terms of meter, instrumentation, cultural reference points or all of the above. On That’s It Oriundo, Prattico’s five fellow “oriundi” each take hold of his intriguing hybrid rhythm to create a new composition from it. The groove itself does not change: it is intentionally played the same, in a dancing flow with little or no variation, as is often the practice in traditional southern Italian music.

As the groove spins its trance-like allure, different influences emerge, whether grand melodic themes (Peirani), Morriconnian scene-settings (Legnini), spoken-word jazz (Giuliani), in the spirit of electric Miles (Fresu) or popular songs with gospel echoes (Faccini). That’s It Oriundo is an opportunity for these players to go deep into their roots, celebrating the fertile and prestigious lineage of Italian musicians who were “born elsewhere” (from Sinatra to Joe Lovano through Chick Corea, Pino Palladino and Steve Gadd, to name a few).