Stefano Leonardi / Antonio Bertoni - Fuoco Sacro [Aut Records 116]

Coming in via the ever growing Aut Records imprint recently is "Fuoco Sacro", the November 14th, 2k24 released second full length collaboration album conceived by Italian musicians Stefano Leonardi and Antonio Bertoni. With Leonardi once again exploring a global array of traditional flutes and reed instruments and Bertoni weighing in the sounds of various string instruments of African origin as well as an intricate set of percussions the albums outernational meta approach might seem conceptually reminiscent of what could be described as World Music but isn't, instead providing a free floating improvisational angle starting with the almost ritualistic, fever'ish and deeply primordial title track "Fuoca Sacro" whereas the subsequent "Vaporo" seems to reveal a whizzing and whirling take on enchanted FreeJazz variations, the hypnotic "Ricicli" draws inspiration from the ever meandering dances of travelling snake charmers in the Arabian deserts and stories told over the course of centuries around oriental campfires whilst the deeply mysterious, sparse and reverberating percussions of "Al Vento" alongside its beautifully gliding and shifting flute tones set more of a nocturnal tone, with the listeners put into high alert mode for a reason, closely following the sounds of the surrounding environment. Following up is the wildly ecstatic string piece "Nelle Mani" with its wild and untamed bowing techniques accompanied by electrical buzzes, the open widescreen panoramas of "A Tocchetti" which somehow evoke non-existent memories of the elders trecking through mountainous terrain millenia ago whilst the intense "Ribollisce" seems to reflect on ancient ritualistic heights reached under the guidance of shamans and their secret, yet surely psychoactive potions and elixirs just to name a few. A highly thrilling album outing, this. Go check!