Lorenzo Bellini – Source (GleAM Records, 2025)
Pianist and composer Lorenzo Bellini leads a quartet formed during his time at Berklee College of Music. Alongside Luca De Toni (electric guitar), Matteo Padoin (double bass), and Andrea Dionisi (drums). The group gained early recognition by winning first prize at the 2023 Music 4 the Next Generation competition in Trento with Bellini’s composition “Source,” which now serves as both the title track and thematic centerpiece of their debut album.
The music on Source draws from the contemporary jazz idiom, combining harmonic and rhythmic unpredictability with Bellini’s distinct melodic sensibility and structural clarity. His compositions reflect a refined balance between technical sophistication and emotional immediacy.
“Fragile Spirit” is the oldest piece on the album. A brisk swing head layered with Afro-12/8 rhythms, shifting metrically between 3/4 and 4/4 across sections.
“Source” is a reinterpretation of Tchaikovsky’s Andante Cantabile (String Quartet No. 1, Op. 11). This arrangement emphasizes the second theme’s sense of renewal. Bellini sets the melody in 6/4, framing it with a piano introduction and developing the two halves of the theme across A and B sections.
The emotive “Auntie Lu” uses 3/4 swing to honor “Auntie” Lucia, whose hospitality near Lake Garda provided the quartet with a creative refuge. Her support fostered not just the group’s formation, but a wider musical community.
“Out of the Blue” is characterized by rapid shifts in meter and key in the intro and A section, Furthermore, this piece opens into a more expansive, harmonically bright B section.
“Odruis” is an open-form musical exploration, inviting listeners into an abstract, improvisational space.
Finally, “Offering” presents a lyrical ballad conceived as a gesture of release. The composition reflects the intent to create and let go, allowing the music to become a spontaneous, unguarded gift.
Musicians: Lorenzo Bellini on piano; Luca De Toni on electric guitar; Matteo Padoin on double bass; and Andrea Dionisi on drums.