JAZZ ALBUM REVIEWS IN THE AUSTRALIAN
In September, 2017 Eric Myers commenced reviewing jazz albums in the Review supplement of The Weekend Australian. All reviews in this folder are written by Myers.
JAZZ
WILDLIFE
STEFANO ROCCO QUARTET
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Independent
Four stars
Published in the Weekend Australian, June 28, 2025
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The Italian-born Stefano Rocco studied classical guitar as a child before taking up electric guitar in his teens, concentrating on rock, blues and fusion. Moving to London in 2009, he studied, played with many bands, and did studio work, and after shifting to Sydney in 2014 he formed his quartet in 2021. Wildlife, the group’s second album, is very impressive, the opposite of rough around the edges, with faultless sound balance. While Rocco inhabits Pat Metheny territory, his brilliant rhythm section — Muhamed Mehmedbasic (double bass), Ed Rodrigues (drums) and Nick Southcott (piano) — provides a variety of excellent time-feels that maximise the album’s jazz content. Rocco says that he “decided to use animal traits as a starting point to explore a diverse range of emotions”, so each of the seven tracks is dedicated to a particular animal: Cat Walk, Dreamy Koala, Elephant Stomp, etc. This album is not particularly innovative, but at the same time it’s completely satisfying, encouraging the feeling that, when local jazz musicians are playing so beautifully, all is well in the world.
Eric Myers