Born in Bari, Italy, multi instrumentalist Renato Falaschi is now based in Paris and after years enhancing the projects of others, this fine keyboard player is now making a mark that is all his own.
His first solo recording was the EP ‘Summer Rain’. It was released in February 2009 and since then Renato has issued three excellent singles all of which demonstrate the ability he has to apply his understanding of what makes great smooth jazz to both modern day classics and his own exquisite compositions.
A case in point is the opening track from the ‘Summer Rain’ project. This sensitive interpretation of the Billy Joel smash ‘Just The Way You Are’ is a gem yet in terms of Renato’s original music, the sparse yet beautiful title cut is a fine example of the mellow groove that he effortlessly engenders. It is interesting to note that little over a year after ‘Summer Rain’ was released Renato re-ignited the magic of this tender tune by revisiting its opening bars for a haunting piano solo which he titled ‘Preludio No. 1’. Completing ‘Summer Rain’, and equally pleasing, is another Falaschi original, the exquisite ‘Traveling Light’, for which he displays a lightness of touch that is reminiscent of Brian Culbertson at his very best. ‘Summer Rain’ remains available through iTunes and is well worth checking out yet exactly the same can be said for Renato’s July 2010 cover of George Benson’s seminal ‘Breezin’.
In his capable hands this wonderful Bobby Womack composition is made to feel brand new and more of the delicious same is on offer with Renato’s latest single, his cool take on Bob Marley’s ‘Waiting In Vain’. Featuring Rocco Ventrella on sax (with whom Renato first collaborated in 2006 on Ventrella’s debut CD ‘Give Me The Groove’) this fine re-imagining is yet another reason to discover the music of Renato Falaschi.
