Just one year after releasing the internationally successful “Rituals” album, Italian jazz-head Nicola Conte returns with a double-cd compiling the re-worked, i.e. completely new arranged tracks he produced in the last years as so called ‘remixes’ for some of his friends, who also happen to be some of the most interesting contemporary jazz artists in the world.
From Italy to Brasil, Latin America, the USA, Japan, and back to Scandinavia and Germany, “The Modern Sound Of Nicola Conte” takes us on a journey into the most tasteful sounds you can get when it comes to bossa-flavoured jazz, Latin excursions and soulful grooves.
To complement the masterful takes on other musicians’ recordings, 8 of the 26 tracks on this impressive collection are Nicola’s own, never before released tracks from the past couple of years, stemming from the sessions to his sought-after albums “Other Directions” and “Rituals”.
Working with some of the world’s finest musicians, Nicola’s “Modern Sound” features household names such as American legend Mark Murphy or German jazz superstar Till Brönner. Modern hipsters The Five Corner Quintet from Helsinki are, like Nicola, dedicated to preserve the spirit of the best 50ies and 60ies jazz, while percussionists Roberto Roena and Luisito Quintero represent two generations of Latin rhythm fever. The music of Norwegians The Bobby Hughes Combination and of American group Thunderball from Thievery Corporation’s ESL Records comes from a more eclectic and electronic background, but Nicola turns their respective tracks into elegant jazz takes nevertheless. This he does also with Japanese guests such as Akiko, Maki Mannami and the Sunaga T Experience.
On Nicola’s reworkings of the various tracks and on his own takes you hear him alongside his fabulous sessions musicians like Pietro Ciancaglini, Daniele Scannapieco, Lorenzo Tucci, Pietro Lussu, Gaetano Partipilo, Rosario Giuliani and Sandro Deida, Fabrizio Bosso, Flavio Boltro, and Finnish musicians Teppo Mäkynen and Timo Lassy. On vocals you hear the talents of Lisa Bassenge, Maki Mannami, Kim Sanders, Alice Ricciardi, José James and Philipp Weiss.
Nicola Conte is not only one of today’s most elegant jazz producers but also a perfectionist in sound. Listening to the 26 tracks of “The Modern Sound Of Nicola Conte – Versions In Jazz-Dub” you will learn to love the extraordinary sound and music qualities provided. While many artists will remix music simply by using software tools and letting the computer do the work, Nicola Conte’s method of re-recording live takes with his own musicians make his “Versions In Jazz-Dub” a most enjoyable pleasure and a welcome addition to his artistic catalogue.
