Federico Ughi "ULERS Two " ULERS Two - Unrehearsed Live Editing of Recorded Sounds Letizia Renzini Allaboutjazz.com/italy Ottobre 2002 Traslated from Italian To picture this production by Federico Ughi, young roman drummer living in New York since many years, one has to understand the idea that is the basis for his "ULERS", newborn project here at its second stage. ULERS stands for Unrehearsed Live Editing of Recorded Sounds, which means post-editing (improvised!) material taken from two different recordings. The first is a recording of solo drum by the musician himself, which we recognize from the light sound, (Ughi prefers the cymbals and anything that sounds light in a drum-set) and from the frequent excursions of the expression. The second one is a recording of sound surroundings, made during one- hour- stroll in the center of Rome, which we recognize, not only in some cases for the sound itself, but also for the titles of the five tracks, the entire work. Ughi here makes us think about the sounds of the environment and about their musicality through a composition that is here almost a gesture. The two worlds, (the real worlds of the musician life, one exterior and the other interior} meet virtually in a sort of reversed sound-track, where traffic and noise of a town's life can easily make the support for the musical subject, wherever it might come from. In this way, Ughi creates 5 different atmospheres in which his interactions live, following the rule to insert an important musical event in each world. On this basis there is of course a certain familiarity with improvisation, hence a passion for listening to the emotional sounds of the real music. Ughi then, doesn't practice an invasive editing, and many sequences remain intact, moderately modeled, and besides that they keep a rough sound which is not unpleasant, and his solutions never appear pretentious. In this way it is possible to hear a motor scooter in the distance, which in the loop might become a rhythmic sequence, a n isolated voice brings with it all its world and creates an emotion for us, a natural urban crescendo that inspires a rhythmic and loud crescendo, risky and unconfident, exactly like what the world we live in can be. A precious experiment of the environmental-musical type. Rate: * * * *