Nicola Conte: Free Souls Vol. 1 & 2 (Limited Special Edition) auf 2 LPs

Deepness ist der entscheidende Wert des neuen Nicola Conte Albums, etwas das zwischen Bewusstsein und Spiritualität liegt.

„Free Souls“ ist purer Soul, wenn Marvin Parks Stimme die Melodie von „Shades Of Joy“ warm umarmt und auch auf „If I Should Lose You“ (ein Standard von Leo Robin und Ralph Rainger, der durch die Hank Mobley Version berühmt wurde). „Free Souls“ ist Afrika in den Tunes, wo Tasha’s World und Bridgette Amofah von den Soli von Magnus Lindgren und Timo Lassy umgeben sind (beide spielen Solo Flöte auf „Solo Revelation“ und „Baltimore Oriole“).

„Free Souls“ ist klassischer Jazz mit den außergewöhnlichen Phrasierungen von Jazzern wie Gaetano Partipilo, Francesco Lento (einer der hoffnungsvollsten Jazztrompeter unserer Zeit), Timo Lassy, Greg Osby, Rosario Giuliani, Fabrizio Bosso, Daniele Scannapieco und Logan Richardson und Jazz mit den außergewöhnlichen Vocals von Jose James auf „Goddess Of The Sea“.

Die Groove-Sektion wurde von Teppo Makynen, Lorenzo Tucci, Pierpaolo Bisogno, Paolo Benedettini, Luca Alemanno, Pietro Ciancaglini und Michael Pinto gestellt, das richtige Line-up für dieses tolle Projekt. Nicht zu vergessen die Beiträge von Melanie Charles („Spirit Of Nature“, „Ahmad’s Blues“, „Live Your Life“) und Heidi Vogel (vom Cinematic Orchestra, auf „Sandalia Dela“). Die Muster dieses künstlerischen Netzes, das von Nicola Conte zusammengesetzt wurde, offenbaren Dekaden von Listening Sessions und einen tief verwurzelten Glauben an die Musik.

Nicola Conte, ein gekonnter Jongleur im Spiel mit den musikalischen Stilen, beweist hier wieder seine Kunst, verschiedene musikalische Welten harmonisch zu verknüpfen und tolle Zusammenarbeiten mit großartigen Musikern zu schaffen.

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The early 60s had seen a change of direction in musical research, especially in Jazz: a turn into deepness. There was an urgent need to walk away from the research of an aesthetic dimension, in order to move towards a more intimate objective, closer to human feelings and spirituality. „Horizontal“ improvisations appeared to decrease, while „vertical“ thrived: a movement directed to transcendence, God and the cosmos.

It was the time in which John Coltrane gave birth to that four-part suite which is still considered one of the 20th century masterpieces. A Love Supreme, was made up of four different moments of a monotheistic pray whilst simultaneously reciting an immortal mantra. Deep – as we would call it today; spiritual and enchanting. This mantra brought closer to Jazz a whole generation who at that time was flirting with rock ’n’ roll – it was not Bitches Brew, which was a high profile operation, but conveyed with a certain spurious charm. Deepness and consciousness had roots in something changing, something that involved proud and conscious musicians who were forging a new language, which would have completely changed music. Meanwhile, Funk and Soul literally exploded, anything but different expressions of a common feeling.

If we had to find a way to situate now Free Souls, in an age in which everything has been already played, from Rebetiko to Gamelan, from Rap to Klezmer – an era where mannerism is background music for supermarkets – those are the times we should look at. In those times deepness enfolded a way of conceiving music, especially Afro-American music which is naturally nourished by Jazz and its derivatives.

Is Soul the right word to describe this movement? So let’s use it without hesitation, because Soul’s mood is the only one which had been capable to enrich all the sounds that accompanied us through out our days till now. Even the most mechanical Techno bars can transmit deepness when Soul is seeded within them.

Free Souls is pure Soul music when Marvin Parks’ voice softly embraces Shades of Joy melody and If I Should Lose You (a standard by Leo Robin and Ralph Rainger which became famous thanks to Hank Mobley’s version); it’s Africa when Tasha’s World and Bridgette Amofah are surrounded by the solos of Magnus Lindgren and Timo Lassy (both playing flute on Soul Revelation and Baltimore Oriole); is classy Jazz with the exceptional phrasing of jazzmen like Gaetano Partipilo (on Goddess Of The Sea and Ode To Billie Joe), Francesco Lento (one of the most promising Jazz trumpeter of these days, on Goddess Of The Sea e Ode To Billie Joe), Timo Lassy (on Free Souls), Greg Osby (on Ahmad’s Blues), Rosario Giuliani (on If I Should Lose You), Daniele Scannapieco (on Uhuru), Logan Richardson (on Sunrise, definitely a gem), of Fabrizio Bosso (on the beautiful African Other Blues with the spoken of Marvin Parks); and jazz again with the extraordinary vocals of Josè James on Goddess of The Sea. The groove and rhythm section had been provided by Teppo Makynen, Lorenzo Tucci, Pierpaolo Bisogno, Paolo Benedettini, Luca Alemanno, Pietro Ciancaglini and Michael Pinto, the right lineup to highlight this great project. Noteworthy is the contribution of Melanie Charles (Spirit Of Nature, Ahmad’s Blues, Live Your Life) and Heidi Vogel (from Cinematic Orchestra’s combo on Sandalia Dela).

The patterns of this rich artistical web constructed by Nicola Conte reveal decades of listening sessions and deep musical beliefs. An accomplished juggler when it comes to play with styles, capable to invent modern structures, Nicola got us used to his ability to blend harmonically different musical worlds and create cooperation between great musicians. Deepness is the added value of this album, something in between consciousness and spirituality. Nothing to share with futile trends, this record is a result of an urgent need to research in the depth of the soul and musical influences. I have known Nicola for too long to not understand that all this comes from the necessity to focus on an inexhaustible will to progress and desire for self-improvement, but most of all, from an unutterable passion for this marvellous universe called music.