Federico Ughi The Space Within, Slam 236 Derek Taylor, Cadence Magazine (USA) In the history of Jazz, duets recordings are a relatively recent form of expression. (...) Drums and reeds alternate supportive roles as easel and canvas on Federico Ughi "The Space Within", Slam 236 where Ughi recruits three peers to join him in three separate duo incarnations. Italian by birth, Ughi has since moved about geographically making his way eventually to New York by way of an extended stay in England. The tracks on this disc are gathered from his London residency and reference him in a highly expressionist mode. Across the program he enters into a give and take with his partners, by turns pushing things forward and hanging back in the wings. His traps set is aflutter with delicately shaped accents and a strong rhythmic sense on the opening pieces with Buckley and it is here that his playing is at its most linear. Buckley cycles through folk themes that vaguely recall elements of Coleman and Ayler, but without the ecstatic edge. His bass clarinet work is more pensive in mood, but no less facile in delivery. By comparison, Musson's sound is a bit belabored in terms of emotive urgency on "Django, part one" but her tenor's tone opens up on the more ethereal "Remember" and "Django, part two". Ughi's tack also shifts on these pieces, unfurling with fine-grained flourishes on mallets and brushes. The improvisations with Morris are the darkest in hue due in part to the saxophonist's dark sonorities on his low register reed. Ughi's accompaniment is the sparest on these concluding numbers, but his drums also stand out in sharpest contrasts in conjunction with Morris. Together the three episodes contained on the disc offer a diverse array of tandem textures and point decisively toward Ughi as a solid improviser on his instrument.

Federico Ughi "The Space Within" CD of the week. All About Jazz.com/it (Italy), Sisifo, January 29th, 2001 It seems easy to associate the reeds-drums duet formula with free jazz (as in the famous duets of John Coltrane and Rashied Ali) and with radical improvised music. Here, the choice of limiting the comping solely to drums directs the reed instrument towards a dry and sharp language, with a strong expressionistic mark, often pushed to the paroxysm of a shout by the storming polyrhythmical fury of the drums. It happens more rarely that a drummer, often attracted by the opportunity of directing a larger band, would choose a saxophonist as the only interlocutor, giving up the rhythmical and dynamic tyranny of his instrument to put himself discretely at the melody's service, and if necessary, have no hesitation to consider silence. This is exactly Federico Ughi's case, a young drummer born in Rome, active since 1994 on the jazz scene in London, from where he has recently moved to New York. In this CD "The Space Within", his debut album as a leader recorded for the English label Slam Records, Ughi plays duets with three different saxophonists, giving birth to vibrant music, where the severe essentiality of the setting is efficiently married to a genuine melodic tension. The way the nine pieces on the CD are arranged, with the stream of the different voices of Ughi's partners, makes you think of a kind of suite. Opposed to the bright and Rollins-like ease of the duets with alto saxophonist Steve Buckley, which remind us of the sound of the famous couple Coleman Hawkins-Shelly Manne (Me and Some Drums, 1962), stands the darker and sharper atmosphere that dominates the tunes recorded with Matthew F Morris in dialogues that clearly demonstrate their improvised origin. In between there are two episodes - in our opinion the most successful in the album - where Rachel Musson's tenor saxophones raises her heartfelt chant on John Lewis wonderful melody "Django"; in "Remember" Ughi stands aside and Musson has the chance to create a solo of sore formal poise. Ughi's drums, which escape any tendency toward blatant self-advertisement, lend constancy and cohesion to the entire project. Powerful and steady with his phrasing, meticulous with timbre and dynamics, precise and relentless when necessary to the explicit rhythmic scansion, it seems that Ughi is inspired by the expressive neatness of Max Roach, an unbeaten example of a drummer aware of the melody, an authentic and equal interlocutor with the soloist.

Thanks for the music. Very nice playing... Lee Konitz September 2000

Federico Ughi The Space Within, Slam 236 Simon Adams , Jazz Journal International (UK) Drum and saxophone duets can often be self-indulgent by performers and tortuous for listeners, but this set is a delight.  Ughi is a sensitive drummer responsive to his partners.  They in turn make full use of the space available to improvise in depth.  The duos with Buckley on both Slight and In Fading Light are a true dialogue, although Ballance is actually out of balance, with Buckley's deep-voiced alto overwhelming the drums.  The two parts of John Lewis's Django are fascinating both for the comprehensive reworking of the theme and the way Rachel Musson deploys the higher register of the tenor to haunting effect.  Best of all to my ears, are the three baritone-drum duos that end the set, with both Ughi and Morris exploiting the full sonic possibilities of their instruments.  As ever, a high-class set from SLAM.