Jazz guitarist Claudio Lodati is a fiery, modern player whose penchant for the sounds of bebop have led him to form an eclectic, wildly inventive band that plays jazz as if tomorrow would never arrive. Dac'Corda is not a bebop band, although -- as evidenced by this debut recording by the group -- bebop is the music's energy. With Lodati in front, backed by guitarist Maurizio Brunod, bassist Giovanni Maier, drummer Massimo Barberio, and a host of guests including jazz accordionist and vocalist Maria Pia De Vito, the improvisational sky's the limit -- at least as long as the music stays in the jazz universe. The set opens with "Minnie," a tough bop blues that quickly leaves its origins and heads for new musical territory with Lodati and De Vito trading fours in 16/12 tempo! It's so quick, so raucous and woolly, that there is barely time to catch one's breath before "Orante" begins and De Vito's vocals grace the open spaces of the time before the instruments engage in more improv pyrotechnics. There are few breathing spaces on the set, and most of them occur only as segments in tunes, such as the gorgeous bass and rhythm guitar break in "Reine." The rest are complete charges of energy and harmonic invention that literally redefine the use of the lead guitar in a jazz setting -- there are more soulful arpeggios on this record than on any five combined in recent years. For Lodati, technical facility, while necessary, doesn't have to suck the lifeblood out of a tune. Monk's "Straight, No Chaser," which closes the set, offers a wonderful illustration of this, as the tune's body is warped by speed and punched out skeins of jittery notes, but its harmony and warm heart are left intact by sophisticated harmonic adjustments that float the lyric through the new melody. This is an amazing album full of surprise, toughness, and new musical statements that echo long after the disc has stopped playing. ~ Thom Jurek