Antonio Farao & Stephane Belmondo: Do It!

NOTES AROUND (RELEASED FEBRUARY 27, 2026)

Italian pianist Antonio Farao and French trumpeter Stephane Belmondo deliver a fresh bouquet of post-bop jazz on Do It! Farao and Belmondo display their individual approaches to jazz — Farao with his rhythmic vitality and Belmondo with his cool to hot sensibilities — while combining those styles to present a unified assortment of colors and textures. Like a floral bouquet, Do It! combines bright colors and pastels all held together by bassist Thomas Bramerie and drummer Benjamin Henocq. Bramerie’s “Otti,” which has the feel of Music Inc. and the up-tempo title track, with its explosive solos from Farao and Belmondo, are some of the bright elements in this bouquet, as is the group’s forceful cover of Herbie Hancock’s “One Finger Snap.” Balancing those bright colors are the pastel moods of the flowing Latin groove of Farao’s “Remembering Duke,” with Farao and Belmonodo complementing each other on the beautiful melody, and “Joey’s Smile,” featuring the composer’s lyrical flugelhorn. There are splashes of Keith Jarrett/Abdullah Ibrahim in “My Little Dancer” and bright to pastels moods blending together on “Melancholy of Rita”(both written by Belmondo). Bramerie and Henocq are perfect greenery for this musical bouquet, intertwining with the various colors and textures presented by Farao and Belmondo. Bramerie peaks out from the musical bouquet with solid bass solos on “My Little Dancer” and “Otti,” while Henocq’s solo on “One Finger Snap” and his closing vamp on “Do It!” add the perfect sparkle to the bouquet. The two leaders work without “greenery” on the delicate almost lullaby Farao original “Sweet.” Do it! is as fresh, colorful, soothing and stimulating as the finest floral bouquet. So, rather than stopping to smell the roses, stop and listen to Do it!”

BOTTOM LINE: Simply put, pianist Antonio Farao and trumpeter Stephane Belmondo “do it” on Do it! Their individual styles completement one another on a well-balanced set of post bop burners, subtle ballads, Latin grooves and a cover of Herbie Hancock’s “One Finger Snap.”