Guitarist
Nicola Conte's sixth recording as a leader is a vocal tour de force, as five different singers split up duties on select tracks. With a substantial horn section pulled from the jazz ranks,
Conte takes on the role of producer more than instrumentalist, while exploring various strains of Latin jazz backings for his words and music that are mostly from his personal book of tunes. The impressive rising star
Jose James is the most prominent songsmith, with smooth jazz diva
Chiara Civello much more rooted in a world music rather than a smooth jazz arena. With assistance from trumpeter
Till Broenner, trombonist
Gianluca Petrella, saxophonist
Sandro Diedda, and especially the exceptional
Timo Lassy on flute or baritone sax,
Conte has a broad color palette to work from, and he uses every last ounce of that rainbow spectrum.
James is turning into the best new jazz singer with good reason, as demonstrated on the boogaloo-styled, brass-based
"Like Leaves in the Wind" and the hip 6/8-in-4/4 Afro-Cuban
"The Nubian Queens," where his deep and cool voice resonates through the echoes of the music. In a lover's mood,
James quietly caresses the lyrics of
"Awakening" in a different arena, suggesting he could become an epic crooner.
Civello is surprisingly good on her cameo,
"Karma Flower," as the cascading harp of
Diane Peters and
Lassy's flute take the tune into chill territory. The bossa
"Paper Clouds" tends to stray toward the pop style she is more known for, but is breezy enough to suggest that there's substance. Alto saxophonist
Greg Osby joins
Lassy (the true star of the date) and
Diedda in the group for
"Song for the Seasons," a cute jazz waltz, while
"I See All Shades of You " is a heated-up samba with trumpeter
Fabrizio Bosso fanning the flames, both of these cuts featuring the fine singing of
Alice Ricciardi.
Kim Sanders is less effective in more of an R&B/pop vein, sounding like a less mature
Nnenna Freelon on her three features. She's on
"Red Sun" in a smaller sextet that finally showcases
Conte's guitar work with drummer
Lorenzo Tucci, and
"Love In" via a hip clave cha cha.
Philipp Weiss is a background singer, but leads out on the suave, sultry
"Caravan" in an octet with the trumpeters and
Diedda minus
Lassy, while the lone instrumental,
"Rituals," has a distinct
John Coltrane feeling of floating freedom, with
Broenner leading the way alongside
Peters and saxophonists
Daniele Scannapieco (tenor) and
Gaetano Partipilo (alto). All in all, this is a fine recording from start to finish, with plenty of dynamism, versatility among the vocalists, and enough meat from a world music perspective to be attractive to a wide-ranging audience -- not definitive, but approaching it. ~ Michael G. Nastos
