The first solo CD by Carlo Actis Dato (Urartu, CD LR 220) released in 1995
was an instant success. However, since Carlo Actis Dato has never been
marching time, it's time for a second solo CD on which Carlo plays baritone
and tenor saxophones, and bass clarinet as well. There are 30 tracks on this
CD, and some of them were recorded by Carlo on different locations. It's up
to you to find out how they fit with the tracks recorded in the studio.
There are rumors that Carlo Actis Dato is an unwanted child of an
Italian astronaut and a Space hooker. However, another source tells us that
he is the son of a Japanese fisherman's wife who was raped by an U.S.
Mariner during the American occupation at the end of the World War II. One
of the stories must be fiction, but we don't know which one. It is also
possible that the truth is somewhere in the middle, and in this case Carlo
Actis Dato is the child of an Italian astronaut and a Japanese fisherman's
wife. As far as I know at the end of the World War II a Japanese fisherman's
wife disappeared under very mysterious circumstances, but in the late �50s
her shoes were found by a well-known American bass player called Charles
Mingus.
Since the day I have met Carlo Actis Dato in a fastfood restaurant
somewhere at the Planet of the Mad Boys we have spent hours and hours
talking about the good old days of Jazz and, of course, Japanese girls
because Western women are completely out of time now. But as soon as I have
tried to ask him any question about his childhood or private life he has
always given me the same answer... Sorry, Sugar, but there happened so many
things in my life I can't remember them all.
In my opinion Carlo Actis Dato is more and more on the way to find back
his roots. He's very often on tour in Japan where he used to play and record
with the most progressive musicians of the time and in that case I
especially like to mention his collaboration with the irresistable Japanese
reedman Kazutoki Umezu (Wake up with the Birds, Leo Records, CD LR 285), and
the very gifted Japanese piano player Satoh Masahiko.
It is not easy to figure out whether Carlo Actis Dato really had a gig on
the moon, but when I consulted my very good friend the well-known Space
journalist, Empty Sky, about the case he simply smiled and said: "Sugar,
there happen to be more between heaven and eart than anybody can dream about
and in fact it's not so important if Carlo Actis Dato walked on the moon or
not. On Moonwalker, or his second solo CD for Leo Records, he is at his very
best and be sure when Carlo Actis Dato is at his best... there's nothing
better."
John "Sugar Daddy" Rottiers
Jazz presenter Radio Zentral Antwerpen, November, 2000
