Francesco Turrisi: Northern Migrations review – delicate, wistful, engrossing

The title of Francesco Turrisi’s first solo album, following half a dozen well-received releases as leader or coleader, refers to the pianist’s own progress from Turin, the place of his birth, to Dublin, his home for the past decade.

But it’s also a reference to the hidden paths that so much music has taken over the centuries, from the cradle of the Mediterranean out into the rest of Europe, and this album of 13 compositions and improvisations is the result of a voracious musical curiosity intent on uncovering those connections.

Northern Migrations finds Turrisi, a musical polymath who also plays accordion, frame drum and much else besides, alone at the piano (recorded live in the natural acoustics of the magnificent Castalia Hall, in Co Kilkenny), weaving his own tapestry with strands of Mediterranean and Arabic origin, flecked with Baroque and early music, as well as contemporary jazz. "I don't fully belong where I came from anymore," he admits in his liner note, "and I will never fully belong where I go".

Delicate, wistful and wholly engrossing, Turrisi's deeply personal mediations on his own journey dig into the complex identity of a modern, itinerant musician. francescoturrisi.com