Instrumental folk meets contemporary jazz in the gentlest and most delightful of ways on Cecilia Vacanti’s latest original composition and single, titled ‘Take It Back’.
The penultimate track on Cecilia Vacanti’s upcoming album Earth’s Dark Shore, ‘Take It Back’ is a bustling, celtic tavern jam with blazing fiddles and swung acoustic rhythm. Everything on the song is done spectacularly well, showcasing Vacanti as a top-notch composer and arranger. Based in Boston, Massachusetts, Cecilia Vacanti is a composer, taking the role of lead violinist on ‘Take It Back’. Accompanied by mandolinist Ethan Setiawan, guitarist Maurizio Fiore Salas, and avant-garde bassist Brittany Karlson, the quartet prove to be a musical powerhouse that blends celtic tradition with jazz lounge, French café music, and freeform folk.
For a 6-minute instrumental to end up sounding this tight and entertaining, remaining relevant and fresh throughout its lengthy runtime, is to prove that the musicians have -in one way or another- poured their hearts completely onto the piece. And indeed, listening in for the bass, guitar, violin and fiddle solos, we come face to face with a startling level of musicianship that’s delightful in every way. Calling ‘Take It Back’ a “jam” would be a vast understatement in spite of how many solos find their way onto the piece, because underneath the solos lives a solid and tight core that’s composed, varied, and endlessly engaging.
‘Take It Back’ is a fantastic listen that got me impatient for more from the infinitely bountiful musical world of composer Cecilia Vacanti. With Earth’s Dark Shore right around the bend, I know what I’ll be anticipating for the next couple of weeks.