It took these 3 master musicians 26 years to finally make it to the recording room together. And it's a good thing, that van't Hof, Mariano and Swallow never gave up on the idea. Enter Brutto Tempo.

With this production, dutch pianist / keyboarder Jasper van't Hof and saxophone legend Charlie Mariano have put a long kept dream to action: a cooperation with american bass player Steve Swallow, whose biography encompasses a mass of creative work almost beyond catalogization. Swallow first encountered van't Hof and Mariano back in 1974 when they were on stage with Pork Pie (the group of the latter two with guitarist Philip Catherine which has become a jazz legend as well). The music and the people playing it struck a string in Swallow, so to speak, and there have been numerous attempts to put up a collaboration afterwards -- but it never did quite come together for 26 years. The year 2000, however, had the right window in time; three intense months of exchanging compositions, playing, arranging, ditching and resuming went by, until 10 tracks eventually satisfied the trio. And Swallow turned out to be just the right partner for van't Hof and Mariano, who, among the two of them, have developed an almost magical musical understanding over the past decades which had them playing together in innumerable projects. As van't Hof puts it: ''Steve's like the missing piece of the puzzle, the one which makes the picture complete''. That statement is readily believed listening to ''Brutto Tempo'', a musical picture as complete as they get: rich , well-balanced and full of warmth. Another masterpiece in the discographies of these 3 excellent musicians and a higlight for every music collection.

Brutto Tempo
Away
Lied Der Mignon
Dry Four
Dhathuardani
Close Near
Ladies In Mercedes
Carnation
Ghost Guests
Not Quiet A Ballad