Osaka Solo is a 3-inch CD containing a 18-minute recording of a March 2006 performance by double bassist Weber at Arts Aporia (you know the city). After hearing the noise of steps and a little background buzz and voices, we're left with Weber conjuring up scraping sounds that made me think to a heavy metallic object dragged all over the floor, and I suspect that it's his very bass doing the introductions. About seven minutes into the disc, silence returns (well, almost) only to be ruptured by the subtlest harmonics that a human performer can elicit from an arcoed string, a wheeze of weak light that after a few more minutes is replaced by an overwhelming mantric growl whose fierceness becomes stronger and stronger in what's without a doubt the most memorable part of the disc. Calm is finally restored, with a few moments of conclusive hisses amidst distant chatter by the few visitors that suffer from attention deficit. Although very essential in its scheme, this is a nice appetizer.

Massimo Ricci