Dominick Farinacci – Dawn of Goodbye – Entertainment One EOM-CD-2113, 66:16 ****½:
(Dominick Farinacci, trumpet and flugelhorn; Dan Kaufman, piano; Yasushi Nakamura, bass; Carmen Intorre, drums; Keita Ogawa, percussion with special guests – Jonathan Batiste, piano and Ben Williams on tracks # 4 & 7; and Guilherme Monteiro, acoustic guitar on track #3)
Dominick Farinacci is one of the brightest lights on the lyrical trumpet scene. Though only 28, Farinacci has been a star in Japan for nearly a decade. Known for his warm “old-school” round romantic tone, Dominick has just released his second U.S.-issued CD, Dawn of Goodbye. Made up of both romantic standards, i.e., “You Don’t Know What Love Is,” “Lover Man” “Weep for Me”, coupled with Dom’s originals, “Midnight Embrace,” and the title track, Farinacci traces the bittersweet highs and lows of love found, and the many times the inevitable loss that follows. Farinacci has the mature ability to relate his playing to the vocals of classic and timeless singers, ranging from Sinatra and Dinah Washington to present day storytellers like Dianne Reeves. Dom’s playing has aptly been compared to Blue Mitchell, Clifford Brown, and the ’50s muted trumpet playing of Miles Davis. High praise for such a young player, but as I have experienced hearing Farinacci play at the Detroit and Monterey Jazz Festivals, it is not hyperbole.
Immediately in listening to this CD, what jumps out at the listener is the romantic mood and wistful ambiance that is the setting for the exploration of euphoria and loss that Dominick sets. Keita Ogawa’s use of various percussion instruments adds to the intensity of feeling that Dom’s horn evokes. “You Don’t Know What Love Is” and “It’s All Right With Me” fit into this category with the latter bright and up-tempo and the former, more introspective and moody. On “I Concentrate on You,” another Cole Porter composition, the guitar of Brazilian Guilherme Monteiro adds a samba feel, and Monteiro is given several choruses to weave his acoustic magic.
Dom shows his skill with the gut-wrenching loss of love as he explores “Dom’s Blues.” Who better than the young New Orleans pianist, Jonathan Batiste, to accompany Farinacci, preaching down and dirty? We then go from the blues in NOLA to Argentina for a lover’s tango on “Midnight Embrace.”
“Lover Man” and “Willow Weep for Me” continue the passion vs. pain quotient that the serpentine paths of love affairs bring – elation meets the pain of loss.
Dom’s pianist, Dan Kaufman, wrote “Windshadow.” It elicited to me the midstage of the love cycle, where locked in comfortable synch, couples glide together in peaceful bliss, neither ready to anticipate where the relationship is heading, but simply comfortable enough, not (yet) ready to face the inevitable forks in the road that life brings.
Dom closes with the title track, and it brings the love relationship to a wistful conclusion, whether it be the death of a partner or spouse, or a sad break-up of a relationship that has run its course.
Share Dawn of Goodbye with someone you love – or hope to. Just make sure the lights are low to add to the effect. Well done, Dom, you wise “old soul.”
TrackList: You Don’t Know What Is, It’s Alright With Me, I Concentrate on You, Dom’s Blues, Midnight Embrace, Lover Man, Willow Weep for Me, Windshadow, Dawn of Goodbye
— Jeff Krow
