5.0 out of 5 stars
Stunning Piece of Work, November 14, 2006
This review is from: The Invisible Session: To the Powerful (Audio CD)
As noted, The Invisible Session are Luciano Cantone, Paolo Fedreghini and Marco Bianchi. Luciano is no stranger to any fan of Schema records - he's one of the founders! And he's also a good guy too... heaven only knows I've bothered him enough with my "when will Nicola Conte put out a double/triple disc set with remixes that he produced?" questions. You've also got Marco Bianchi and Paolo Fedrighini here too who are hardly amateurs in the jazz, nu-jazz, funk & lounge genres either as their album AND remix album are both fantastic too. As noted, they are all on the Schema label which is also the home of Nicola Conte, Soulstance, Gerardo Frisina, Rosalia De Souza, S-Tone Inc. and several others.
Put all of that together and you've got one heck of an album. Jazz, nu-jazz, effects and some really cool blues and singing. The CD starts out with Jenny B's strong vocals on "Till the End". It's a good song but IMO not one of the stronger on the album - so imagine the quality in the rest! No further than the next song do you have the gentle piano playing of Marco Bianchi on display along with the percussion and effects that show how the collaborations of the musicians will work. "I Knew the Way" would have been a stronger intro, IMO. Terrific song. But "To the Powerful" takes it up a notch with an amazing vibe to it - a not too overbearing message and stance. It's got a really funky break-down. "I'll Be Your Wings" is loaded with soul as it glides while you've got a kickin' urban ambiance in the tial end of "My Inspiration" with Luciano's dead-on percussion role. Other tracks that stood out to me were "Invisible Blessing" (smoking), "The Teacher", "Heroes of the Conquest"... but the other three were hardly a slouch either. Speaking of "The Teacher", what a track. The effects, much like the other tracks were expertly done (Marco Bianchi). Just like the rest of the album, the effects and musicianship is never too much - its just right. The sound drpos, then you've got the vocal...
This one comes highly recommended. Especially if you're a big fan of S-Tone Inc's newest one and were pehaps disappointed with The Dining Room's latest. It's a very cool album. Terrific musicianship and a wonderful project - sort of like the sophistication that you'd imagine Fragment Orchestra might have leaned towards if they kept it up. This is the perfect track for sitting back, sipping a glass of wine or just cruisin' out for the night. It's not too mellow, not too dark and it's hardly overbearing light - it fits into that place I can only describe as "perfect for me". If you do dig this, check the artists I mentioned above - and also keep a look out for a remix project for this cd in the next year or so. You might also like Nicola Conte's "Other Directions", Marco Bianchi/Paolo Fedrighini's latest album, The Five Corner's Quintet and the High Five Quintet. You might also like some of Gianluca Petrella's work (Dr. Abstract) since he features throughout this album too. Oh... and there are loads of remixes to tracks on this already available on 12".
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