Vicente Amigo - Tierra

Have you ever listened to flamenco? It’s hard to digest if one doesn’t fully comprehend the concept of “cante jonto”, that can be translated as “deep singing”. Flamenco is visceral music, it’s improvised and it is seldom valued outside of the spanish borders. Vicente Amigo comes to assist us on this; he’s an outstanding flamenco guitarist and he is helping in the sense that “Tierra” is not a straightforward flamenco album but rather a mix of flamenco and celtic music. It is recorded and produced in the UK. This album will give the listener a chance to approach the magical and enchanting world of flamenco. Its origin is clearly sprouting from the arabian culture, but what does celtic music have to do with it?

When listening to arabian and middle eastern music, there are many common traits with traditional scottish and irish music to be found: all have a strong emphasis on melody and rhythm, actually, among their features the melodic and rhythmic complexity is certainly predominant.

Vicente Amigo takes us for a journey through different -  yet so similar - musical cultures, and the outcome is excellent! 

Buon Ascolto  

Robi Botos - Old Soul

The latest Robi Botos album is really electrifying, in just seven tracks he is condensing all of his musical world made of jazz and even more. In this record we hear all of his love for Hungary as well as his intention to reach beyond the borders of jazz music by contaminating it with soul sounds or just plain funk.

In order to produce such a diverse album he set up a super band with outstanding musicians. In “Old Soul” Larnell Lewis delivers all of his drumming power; in “Budapest”, filled with homesickness for his country, Seamus Blake brings  us a moving melody that reminded me, for the way he plays it, of the great Michael Brecker; lastly, in “Calhoun Square” he pays a tribute, together with none other than Cory Henry, to the departed Prince.  

This is a record where a flawless piano technique reminds me of both Oscar Peterson on one side and on the other, for his ability to harmonize tracks in an almost orchestral way, the great Bill Evans. It’s an awesome album where the highest peaks of virtuosity are performed with the same ease as a child running. 
Buon Ascolto