Radiata 5tet is a project by tenor saxophonist Stefano Ferrian, cellist Cecilia Quinteros, vocalist Claudio Milano, trumpeter Vito Emanuelle Galante and double bassist Luca Pissavini. Pissavini wrote the lyrics and Ferrian came up with the concept. Ferrian, along with Pissavini and Galante act as conductors. This is great current avant-jazz music; basically composed but with a healthy dose of improvisation.
Claudio's vocals can sometimes be operatic, while other times can incorporate screeching, grunts and in short are just very diverse. He can make odd noises (sometimes even without his voice, like the paper in one track). There is no drums but the music can be rhythmic due to the combination of bass and cello. I love the sound of the bass here, which includes the occasional smacking of the body of the instrument. Generally the trumpet and saxophone are the most traditional jazzy sounding.
"Planula larvae" has the cello creating a drone-like atmosphere. "Diploblastic" contains a nice melodic build-up near the end which quickly turns into something else. "Spiralia" is hard to describe: it's just a whirlwind of sound. Mostly bass and cello creating a staccato hurricane to which Claudio and the brass breathe fire into. An incredible track, actually. "(c)tenophores" is probably the most interesting of the tracks. It starts off with hypnotic double bass thumping. After the other dissonant and atonal instruments and vocals join in, the music stops. After a brief silence a noisy crescendo builds up and Claudio sings; first melodically, then in a growling way. The music stops again and then returns again.
This is a great live-in-the-studio recording. Modern avant-jazz at its finest. This is a product of Italy, a country which has recently produced a lot of great music.