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Marco
Lo Russo
Accordionist and
composer
(Italy)
If you want to hear a fine accordionist "Mediterranean
Accordion... Live" is a great choice.
Marco
Lo Russo
mixes jazz, chamber music, oriental themes and nostalgic
tango in a fascinating musical
trip. Each time you listen this beautiful recording,
you will discover something new and surprising. Although
rooted in the Mediterranean space, his music transcends
cultural boundaries and conventions to reach a high
level of refinement yet full of energy and beat.
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Cyril
Achard
Guitar, Composer,
Educator
(France)
A versatile electric and acoustic guitarsist with
an excellent guitar technique and a special feeling
for melodic improvisations and rhytm. On "Essensuel"
he explores a common ground between jazz, classical,
pop, latin music. The result is a sensitive and exquisite
acoustic album.
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Joe Locke Quartet
"Sticks & Strings
JazzEyes 2007
Although Joe Locke, this "aristocrat of the vibes"
is known mostly as a jazzman, he is also a genuine
musician opened to various horizons. "Sticks and Strings",
his new CD released by the Italian label MusicEyes
is no exception. His chamber-impressionistic style
touched by a tasteful "Lockian" romanticism infuses
each piece of this beautiful album blending energy
and tempos into a crystal clarity sound. The songs
are intelligently balanced: from kaleidoscopic aerial
grooves on "Time like the Present" to intriguing dynamics
on "The Rosario Material" complemented by the melodic
timeless "Sword Of Whispers" and "A Word Before You
Go" or "Terzani" with a jazzrock watermark and the
changing textures and rhythms on "Sixth Sense" and
"Appointment in Orvieto". No matter the
song , the quartet plays with the same emotional resonance.
A notable revelation is Jonathan Kreisberg on guitars
exchanging shades and colors with Joe Locke throughout
the album, Joe La Barbera on drums, playing spectral,
diaphanous cymbals and Jay Anderson on bass, bringing
in nuances and tension. Warmly recommended to refined
listeners.
Magdalena Reising
(UK)
Singer
Magdalena
Reising's debut album gives the listener a good view
of her talent as an inspired songwriter and sensitive
performer. She sings with a mature, clear voice, with
no artificial "prettyness", or using melodramatic
cabaret-styled cliches. The album features a well
balanced diversity and alternance of tempos and rhytms,
from meditative to joyful, beautifully captured in
a jazz-blues atmosphere by excellent musicians featuring
Christopher Page, a master pianist. "Blue Cafe"
is a promising debut for this gifted artist and also
an album enjoyable from beginning to end.
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Fellé
Vega
(Dominican Republic/USA)
Percussionist, composer
Recorded live, Fellé
Vega's
CD "Retreta Para El Alma" captures the freshness
and spontaneity of his warm, colorful music where
Dominican folk, and improvisation are mixed with distinctive
refinement. This CD is far from exotic cliches or
"Latin" hits: Fellé
Vega and his band preserved
the original authenticity and spirit of sources without
losing creativity along the way. The fusion of voices,
violin, accordion, tuba, guitar and percussion work
as one, the balance of sonorities is masterfully crafted.
Fellé Vega's
percussion poetry on this compelling album.
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Tiziano Zanotti
Bass player, composer, educator
(Italy)
Recently released "Influences"
is the work of a very special duo. Tiziano Zanotti,
bass and Alessio Alberghini soprano sax, took the
challenge to revisit a collection of standards using
the maximum of their talent to get the most out of
their instruments. The difficulty was not just to
balance the bass and sax tonalities but to keep alive
the spirit and color of tunes such as Ornithology
or Yardbird Suite. The experiment proved to be successful
both ways, the listener will be charmed by Tiziano
Zanotti's spacious, warm double bass playing and Alessio
Alberghini's beautiful designed sax sound shifting
from mellow tones to surprising playful improvisations.
In the end this clever synthesis of technique and
emotion will certainly makes you realize you're not
just listening to another rendition of standards but
to a quite genuine sonic signature.
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Mayra Casales
Composer, singer, percussionist
(Cuba/USA)
A
beautiful debut CD with a distinctively modern Cuban
jazz feel by percussionist Mayra Casales. The eleven
songs speak for themselves about her
incredible talent and versatility. Not that she
plays with master technique a colorful selection of
percussions:congas, djembe, quinto, timbales, guiro
but also sings with a rich voice on two of the tracks.
Woman
On Fire ("Mujer Ardiente") is the remarkable result
of a wonderful mix of talents. Mayra Casales is joined
by Jon Lucien(excellent on his composition "Xiomara"),
Robert Rodriguez(piano, keyboards), Regina Carter(violin)
and Carmen Lundy(voice, Rhodes) to name just a few.
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info
YUER Fest
Ethno-Jazz and Rock Music festival featuring bands
from regions of former Yugoslavia. Featured
bands: AB RE and Arhai.
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Mamdouh Bahri
Composer, guitarist
(Tunisia/France)
Guitarist Mamdouh Bahri is
a traveller through the universe of jazz, Mediterranean,
Latin and traditional Nord-African music he transposes
in beautiful exquisite, melodic lines. "Tabarka" captures
his musical influences filtered through a personal
melodic sensibility infused with lyrical oriental
textures.
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João
Ferraz
Composer, guitarist
(Brazil)
Guitarist
João Ferraz's debut album features
a set of 8 original pieces performed in a joyous,
sunny key. Is an exuberant and elegant fusion of Brazilian
rhythms with modern jazz sounds, beautifully arranged
and performed by a team of excellent musicians with
great taste. There'a lot of variety in this multi
colored sound palette. João
Ferraz's harmonies are reminscent of
Toninho Horta's sonorities while Adriana Duarte's
warm voice that gives so much charm to the album.
Imaginative and vivacious "Sapo" is recommended
for those who want to hear what is new and creative
in the actual Brazilian music.
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Neil Alexander
(USA)
Composer, keyboards
Released in 2007 "Tugging
at the infinite" released, is another excellent
record from keyboardist and composer Neil Alexander.
The eight compositions cover a multitude of influences
and sonorities blended and balanced with that refined
good taste characteristic to Neil Alexander. "There
is no electric guitar on this record", is written
on the CD cover but after listening to "Starlight
Casts No Shadow" you realize the "secret"
meaning of this "warning". In fact, no need
for guitar, Neil Alexander is clearly the master of
his keyboard and he knows how to get the maximum of
beauty out of it. For some rock loving listeners the
hit of the album may be the superb composition "Everyman
(The Flight Of The Falcon)" while the keyboards
and sax dialog on "The One That Got Away"
will delight jazz fusion fans. Each piece is different,
arranged with artistry and care for a rich, bold and
warm sound. An excellent record.
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Aura Records
(Turkey)
An original label featuring among other talented musicians,
a selection of jazz fusion artists whose creations contain
a wonderful blend of Turkish music themes with jazz
influences.
New
Release: Spin - Ilk
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Rick Zunigar
Guitar,
Composer
(USA)
On "Rick Zunigar Organ Trio"
guitarist Rick Zunigar teams up with two other fine
musicians: Joe Bagg(Hammond B3 Organ) and Mark Ferber(drums)
to produce an outstanding example of elegance and
improvisational playfullness. His guitar can be described
as sophisticated, shining throughout the album with
clarity and precision, gaining even more depth and
richness in the trio context where Joe Bagg's B3 organ
warm sound offers the perfect contrast. There is no
doubt, there is a special empathy between these three
master musicians, one that makes the recording sound
as one of a kind.
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Emmanuel Binet
Bass
(electric and accoustic), Composer, arranger, producer
(France)
Composing or improvising Emmanuel
Binet have been blending for many years jazz, world
music, folk, rock and other influences with the same
exquisite sense of harmony and melody. Throughout
his career he was involved in a multitude of musical
projects collaborating with many proeminent musicians
such as: Pierre Bensusan, Manu Katché, Didier Malherbe,
Emmanuel Bex, Chico Freeman, and many others. One
of his recent projects is the duo work
with the remarkable guitarist Laurent Hestin. Joining
their talent they pursuit an original exploration
of a virtual ethnic jazz teritory from East to West,
a blend of surprising colorful melodies and rhytms.
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Silard
Somorjay
Piano,
Keyboards, Composer
(USA/Hungary)
Mixing
electronics and acoustic instruments Silard Somorjay's
"Eternal Traveler" transports the listener
towards a magical universe where the rhythms of the
world are woven in an unique organic
orchestral performance, very close to a symphonic rendition
of the communion between human made sounds and nature's
beat.
Silard's
warm atmospherical keyboards, backed
by a team of experimented musicians, paints a genuine
spatial musical landscape.
This exotic, surreal
sonic experience doesn't lack spontaneity, it's always
surprising and free playing yet without losing the structural
wholeness.
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Delta
Saxophone Quartet
Dedicated to You...But You Weren't listening
Moonjune Records 2007
A
superb collection of impressions inspired by some
of the legendary Soft Machine songs, performed by
DSQ. Although built around Soft Machine's motifs the
four musicians create their own estethic and sensibility.
This kaleidoscopic ensemble of colors and polyphonies
arranged to form one fresh unitary vision is certainly
not a Soft Machine cover but rather an exquisite contemporary
reflexion of their avant garde poetry. What contributes
most to the charm of the music, besides the unsurpased
refinement of the execution, is the interpenetration
of chamber-jazz-contemporary perspectives in a variety
of spontanious (at times, majestic) architectures.
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Simak
Dialog
(Indonesia)
From Simak Dialog comes
Patahan, released by Moon June Records in 2007 reflects
the meeting of jazz, progressive and Indonesian music
worlds at a natural, organic
level. There is a subtle, sophisticated energy radiating
from their music, a succession of soundscapes
deeply impregnated with a spiritual fresh power. Among
the highpoints the melodic, spontaneous dialogues
between
piano and Riza Arshad's "methenyan" guitar
on"One has to be", or the magical percussion
beats mixed with hypnotic vocals on "Spur Of
The Moment". Intriguing the breathless tensionated
atmosphere(Kemarau), or "Worthseeing" a
complex group interaction build
around a syncopated theme, and finally "Kain
Sigli" a haunting totemic electro-acoustic atmosphere
crossed by poignant esoteric vocals. A not conventional
album generous in colors and surprises from a band
we will surely hear more in the future.
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Gianni
Bardaro
(Italy/Denmark)
Saxophone
Italian
composer and saxophonist Gianni Bardaro just released
"Overflow", an album full of surprises for
modern jazz fans. Featuring musicians from Italy,
Norway and Denmark the quintet has
built a distinct jazz vocabulary based around Gianni
Bardaro's compositions. Balancing between lyricism
and swing the album has plenty of memorable moments.
The sax-piano-trumpet interactions backed by a bold
bass-drum section is clearly a winning formula either
drawing melodic lines
on Song For Dicembre or blending energetic
sax-trumpet grooves on Supernova Latina.
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Musiceyes
Italy
From Italian label Music Eyes another memorable realease:
"Palermo" featuring bassist Eddie Gomez's
trio. The program includes
8 songs (4 originals and 4 standards, among them two
well known tunes from Bill Evans's repertoire: We
Will Meet Again and On Green Dolphin Street.).
Played by three outstanding artists "Palermo"
delights the listener with a poetic music in tune
with the spirit of this beautiful Mediterranean city.
Gomez's approach is subtle throughout, bearing a warm,
deep undertone admirably sustained by Stefan Karlsson,
piano and Nasheet Waits, drums.
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Tasa
(Canada)
Tasa is an open door to the beauty
of instrumental and vocal Indian music impregnated
with various influences from jazz to other sonorities
of the world. Their albums will take you in a realm
of seductive melodies and improvisations that transcend
the geography. The secret of this unique ensemble
lies not just in the world class of the musicians
but also in the impressive fluid interaction between
them.
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Joe De Renzo
Composer, drummer
(USA)
Although Russell Ferrante, Jimmy
Haslip and Bob Mintzer are featured on "Dante's
View", the music of this album may surprise listeners:
Joe De Renzo did not recreate the famous Yellowjackets,
his first album released by German label ESC maybest
be described as an imaginative contemporary jazz project
rooted in the glorious fusion years. Along with originals
the album contains a couple of intriguing versions
of fusion masters. Giving a new life to Chick Corea's
"Lenore" and to Joe Zawinul's "Second
Sunday in August", Joe DeRenzo and his fellow
musicians re arranged the songs infusing them with
warmth and volume yet preserving thir original spirit.
The extensive Umbria suite based on a Keith Jarrett
performance it is quite an accomplishment for the
quintet Mintzer, Ferrante, Hughes, Axt, De Renzo.
Going beyond a respectful tribute to the master pianist,
they added their personal touch to what it came out
as a wonderful melodic work of jazz fusion. Other
high points are the trio performances (Ferrante, Haslip,
De Renzo), a combination of laid back grooves, smooth
funky tones and more introspective improvisations
also present on the atmospheric "Last Lovers".
It would be simplistic to call "Dante's View",
a drummer album; what it reveals is the work of a
gifted musician who can synthesize musical sensibilities
in a timeless jazz alchemy.
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Happy
Dog Project
(Greece)
Happy
Dog Project's debut album "Dog Days are Over" marked
the beginning of a contemporary and exciting band
with an interesting electro jazz- funk-balkan-mediterranean
signature. The rhythms are fast and intense, charged
with a sort of melancholic, emotional tension, sometimes
dark, obsessive, at times colored by clarinet, accordion
and guitar but smoothed with the Fender Rhodes/Hammond
sound. Changes in rhythms combined with smart electronic
effects add to the atmosphere a mysterious, experimental
dimension to this intriguing spectrum of textures.
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info
Chromatica
(USA)
CHROMATICA(Ric
DelNero (guitar), Dave "Ike" Eisenhower (drums, percussion)
and Dave Sabo (bass guitar) )
is getting ready to release their long awaited debut
CD in early spring 2007. The CD is titled Out Of Bounds
and consists of 11 amazing tracks. It was produced
by Ric DelNero & CHROMATICA and recorded and engineered
by Richard Rupert at Green Valley Recording. Two tracks
from the album, "Songo" and "Vices"
are featured in our streaming programs.
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George
Koufogiannakis
Guitar,
Composer
(Canada)
Besides
the fact that
George Koufogiannakis
is an innovative spirit, he is also an excellent composer
and arranger. The name
of the CD "Explorations in Improvised Music"
captures the essence of this adventurous yet well
structured performance combining the sparkling creativity
of a group of fine Canadian and British musicians.
The album abounds in layered free-form bold constructions
and dialogues between guitar, flugelhorn or trumpet(Richard
Skilbeck), intriguing group improvisations colored
by turntables and vocals(Tino Koufogiannakis).
An album full of energy to the delight of modern jazz
lovers.
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Guido Santoni
Piano,
Composer
(Italy)
Hard to pinpoint
Guido Santoni's musical category since he is continuously
and spontaneously defying borders and styles. He only
lets his skills and imagination to use freely the
universal language of music. The black and white keys
become invisible under his hands while releasing a
tapestry or torrents of impressionistic fragments,
endless ineffable harmonies. If his music is infused
with jazz is of less importance, what it counts is
the unlimited beauty that Guido Santoni expresses
with passion!
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Haftor Medboe Group
(UK)
You may call it contemporary music
or symphonic jazz fusion or whatever you like but
Haftor Medboe Group is much more than a melting pot.
Sometimes abstract or melodic, experimental or minimalist,
part modern, part classical, their last release, "In
perpetuity" can be listened as a musical story about
time and spaces, or it may be the music for your next
mental movie populated with colours impressions and...
memories of Brian Eno or Bill Frisell. Placed between
composition and improvisation, strange experimental
folkish harmonies alternate with interludes of crystalline
Mediterranean melodies, or more aggressive percussion
bursts reinventing the balance of opposites of the
musical universe.
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Geoff
Lapp
Pianist,
Composer
(Canada)
FREE
mp3
DOWNLOAD
Yo Bro from "Stained Glass"
Geoff
Lapp is one of the finest exponents of today's Canadian
jazz and "Stained Glass" released in 2006
comes to prove it once again. A beautiful well balanced
recording where beyond the impressive technical abilities
of the players lies the flowing warm emotion and joy
they share with the listener. You'll hear Geoff Lapp's
five original colorful compositions along with other
five standards wonderful stylized and crafted.
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Billy
Preston
Featuring Novecento
You and I
A rare album recorded in Italy in November
1997 by Billy Preston accompanied by Novecento, now
in a new 2007 edition. This beautiful tribute to his
memory features ten songs mixing jazz, funk, R&B and
soul. As always, Preston sings and plays keyboards
with his inimitable sense of rhythm and fun. The beauty
of this album lies not just in his unforgettable tone
of his voice but also in the subtle modern touch of
the arrangements.
Novecento
(Italy)
CD: Featuring...is
Smooth
jazz-pop fusion enthusiasts will be delighted by a
new release from the Italian label Novecento Productions.
The four talented Nicolosi brothers are joined by
an impressive selection of fine jazz musicians: Billy
Cobham, Michael Brecker, Stanley Jordan, Jeff Berlin,
Toots Thielemans, Danny Gottlieb, Eddie Gomez, Billy
Preston, Jan Hammer, Airto Moreira and others. Wonderfully
performed and recorded, the album mixes the Italian
melodicity with contemporary jazz-funk lines tastefully
integrated in songs of vocal and instrumental virtuosity.
The album abounds in a great diversity of sonorities,
sometimes melancholic, seometimes joyous but always
wrapped in all those beautiful arrangements characteristic
to Novecento. A feast of musical joy and harmony
Fabiana
Passoni
(Brazil/USA)
Singer
What
is remarkable on "E Minha Vez", Fabiana
Passoni's first album is her distinctive rich voice
and the wonderful orchestral arrangement and performance
of all the songs. From modern to traditional themes,
blending with warmth and emotion jazz, sambas, bossa
novas, with a hint of pop-rock, this well crafted
album has everything to enchant the listener. A special
highlight, the title track: a passionate song composed
by Fabiana Passoni.
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Kali Z. Fasteau
Composer, educator, singer, (USA) multinstrumentist,
People of the Ninth/New Orleans
and the Hurricane 2005 is the result of the encounter
between two master musicians and improvisers well
known in the world of free jazz: Kali Z. Fasteau and
Kidd Jordan, joined by drummer Michael T. A. Thompson.
Prepare to hear a music of volcanic energy, charged
with emotion and spontaneity yet organically structured
enough to keep the listener curious wanting to hear
the next song. In this intimate laboratory populated
with a genuine festival of natural sounds and echoes,
a borderless music fueled by intensity and passion
is being reinvented.
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Craig Pilo
Composer, drummer
(USA)
A highly dynamic jazz fusion
atmosphere filled with positive energy.
"Just Play" showcases the work of an experimented
musician whose bold personality is evident throughout
the album. There are many
wonderful sequences of vigorous, colorful jamming
not to mention the excelelent bass and organ grooves
that make the music float around. Among the highlights
"Early Cynical Mystery" one of the originals,
brings a breeze from the "Return to Forever"
years and Coltrane's "Miles Mode" here cleverly
arranged by Craig Pilo. An entertaining album of great
clarity and power for fusion enthusiasts.
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Mitch Marcus
Composer, tenor saxophone (USA)
"The Special" is a set of
seven contemporary jazz grooves played with enthusiasm
and sense of humour by five fine musicians from SF
Area. This highly creative experimentalist ensemble
powered by two frenetic saxophones(Mitch Marcus and
Sylvain Carton) and Michael
Abraham's guitar creates a rainbow of compelling compositions
ranging from weird and quirky to big bandish melodic
or free style textures embellished with experimental
rock sequences. Remarkable the seamless spatial intersection
between saxophones and the rest of the instruments
which leave enough room for excellent bass and electric
guitar solos. A proof of creative eclecticism that
goes beyond juxtaposing stylistic sources.
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Eyal Maoz
Composer, guitarist
(Israel/USA)
On
"Edom", hist first album as a leader, guitarist
Eyal Maoz is joined by organ player
John Medeski, bassist Shanir Ezra Blumenkranz and
drummer Ben Perowsky. Exploring
a wide range of moods and sounds, from lyrical, jovial
to explosive and dark, blending jazz and rock with
middle-eastern
accents "Edom" bears Eyal
Maoz's unique and genuinely
clear signature. Remarkable the guitar-organ dialog
on "Lost ", the dense guitar sonority on
"Strength" or the visionary, vibrant "Hope
and Destruction".
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Nicolosi Productions
(Italy)
Nicolosi Productions is active
on jazz since 1997, Billy Preston's "You and I"
was the first album they produced. Beyond Billy Preston
and Billy Cobham, the Italian based Nicolosi
Productions' studios near Milano have been producing
leading artists such as: Gregg Kofi Brown, Danny Gottlieb,
Stanley Jordan and many international guests has taken
part of their productions: Sting, Dominic Miller, Buddy
Miles, John Patitucci, Airto Moreira, Mike Stern, Michael
and Randy Brecker, Jeff Berlin, Toots Thielemans, Frank
Gambale, Jan Hammer, Brian Auger, Manu Katche, Des'ree,
Gabrielle.
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info
Aldo Mazza
Percussionist,
Composer, Educator, Producer
(Canada/Italy)
French painter Monet said that as
an artist you need two lives, one to learn to paint
and the other to paint. Compressing the time with
intelligence and energy, Aldo Mazza is a brilliant
composer and performer as well. Music can be a job,
a passion or become synonymous with life. This latter
case applies to Aldo whose life is dedicated to more
than playing. On the stage, or behind it, or teaching
and networking with musicians worldwide, he is always
planning, thinking to new projects, discovering new
talents and paths in music with the same always young
fresh curiosity. His projects, local or international
became landmarks. The famous international drumming
workshops organized by him in Cuba and USA under the
brand name of KOSA are already known by thousands
of musicians all over the world.
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Çavana
(Canada/Venezuela)
Formed by four experimented musicians
with solid connections to classical, folk and world
music, Çavana is an unique
musical concept. On their CD "Perspectivas y Relieves"
- a gallery of colorful miniatures - they blend with
classical finesse, Venezuelean themes, chamber music
and jazz. The sound is gentle,
sophisticated, yet full of life and clear. There is
virtuosity here but without overpowering the poetry
and freshness of compositions. At the heart of the arrangements
are the folk elements, tastefully
integrated in a tapestry
of classical and modern sonorities that gives a timeless
dimension to the overall musical signature.
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Gianmarco Liguori
(New Zealand)
Composer, guitar
Guitarist Gianmarco Liguori
found a very interesting creative formula to deliver
his concept. Under his artistic direction, a band
composed by five experimented musicians produced a
collection of ten colorful musical "paintings"
peformed in the most "freestyle" original
way. This fusion of jazz,
latin, rock, folk, ambient, contemporary music and
other unpredictable sonorities and rhytms defying
any categorization is performed with such intensity
and irresistible joy that makes
you listen to this CD over and over!
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Daniela
Nardi
Singer, composer
(Canada)
Daniela Nardi's poetry place her next to Joni Mitchell
or Leonard Cohen, just to name a few other famous
Canadian musicians. From jazz, pop, and folk she extracts
just those colorful elements that allows her to create
a personal, intimate, warm sound. Listening to her
music one will realize that this is not "just"
entertainment, there's a message within. Her voice
transfers emotions and sincerity without loud "stunning"
effects yet powerful enough to make a statement. Imagine
a friend sitting next to you, singing a story about
life, love and experiences in the most natural way.
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The
Wrong Object
