DONELLI A.I. ENSEMBLE
In this interview, DONELLI A.I. ENSEMBLE discusses the inspiration behind Uncertain Weather Forecasts, exploring climate, history, artificial intelligence, and the creative fusion of jazz, progressive rock, and world music.
1. “Uncertain Weather Forecasts” reflects both the instability of today’s climate and the unpredictable changes shaping modern life. What inspired you to connect these two themes, and what message did you hope listeners would take away from the album?
It’s the present moment, the one we’re living in. Time is accelerated, changes are rapid and unpredictable. Either you remain completely disoriented or you gain a new awareness, which can truly help change things for the better.
2. The album takes listeners on a journey through eighteen tracks, touching on both current realities and historical events that still resonate today. How did you decide which stories or moments to include and how they connect?
History, unfortunately, repeats itself. The massacre of Native Americans, for example, has a strong symbolic value: it recalls other tragedies of oppressed and almost completely erased peoples, even in recent times.
3. Your music blends jazz, progressive rock, and world music into a single artistic vision. What attracts you to these genres, and how do they help you express the ideas behind this work?
It’s the globality of music, which embraces world cultures, without genre barriers.
4. One of the most distinctive aspects of the album is the use of artificial intelligence to reshape human-composed music into new arrangements, while maintaining creative control in your hands. How did this collaborative process between human creativity and AI evolve during the project?
It evolved primarily thanks to the use of workstations that allow complete control over what is reworked by AI, which can thus increasingly become an instrument of human creativity. In short, like all technologies, it depends on how you use it. It’s clear that if you simply write a prompt, the creative process is almost nonexistent.
5. With eighteen compositions, “Uncertain Weather Forecasts” offers a broad emotional and musical panorama. Were there any pieces that proved particularly challenging or personally meaningful during the creation? And why?
They are the pieces that speak of war and the aspiration for peace, considering the times we are living in. I’m referring to “Capo Giuseppe” and “La guerra è finita.” Production-wise, a piece like “Borea,” with its effects, tempo changes, and sound quality control, was quite challenging.
6. Looking beyond this release, how do you see your creative approach evolving? Do you intend to continue exploring the balance between traditional composition, technological innovation, and intergeneric experimentation in your future works?
Yes, of course, considering it’s a constantly evolving world.