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| Joe Locke, John Patitucci, Don Byron & others join Mafalda Minnozzi on "Natural Impression" Acclaimed international singer Mafalda Minnozzi has been hailed by All About Jazz Italia as "a sensitive interpreter [with] outstanding vocal technique, [who] dominates the stage with her fascinating stage presence and her powerful and flexible voice, rich in a thousand nuances." On her new album Natural Impression, the latest chapter in a longstanding collaboration with American guitarist, arranger and producer Paul Ricci, Minnozzi embodies every word of that well-deserved praise. In a richly varied set of music that she and Ricci co-arranged, Minnozzi displays her deep affinity for Bossa nova and Música Popular Brasileira (MPB), French chanson, Italian standards, American jazz and other flavors of global song. Joining her is a superb core band and a top-tier slate of special guests including Joe Locke, Don Byron, John Patitucci, Michael Wolff, Doug Beavers, Kassin and Brazilian music legend Roberto Menescal, whose previously unrecorded "Bruma" (co-written by Bruna R. Da Fonte) makes its official premiere on Natural Impression. Born and raised near Milan, Minnozzi grew up listening to Edith Piaf, Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, João Gilberto and Caterina Valente. Having gained stature as a performer in Italy and around Europe, she began a momentous new chapter in 1996, traveling to Rio de Janeiro to record for the Brazilian label Som Livre. She soon moved her artistic base to São Paulo, where to date she has established her prominent recording and touring career resulting in collaborations with Milton Nascimento, Leny Andrade, Guinga, Martinho Da Vila, Paulo Moura and many others. Hers is a skillful balance between the virtuosity and eclecticism of jazz with the cosmopolitan sensibility of world music. Her singing recalls ancestral links with Italian melodrama and French cabaret in a stylistic blend that uses the voice in the manner of a skilled instrumentalist — shown, for example, by her nimble unisons with Beavers' trombone on "Mas Que Nada, " or with Ricci's guitar on their boppish rendering of the Leny Andrade-associated showpiece "Estamos Aí" as well as the seductive dance with Don Byron on "Ne Me Quitte Pas." The songwriters represented on Natural Impression — Antonio Carlos Jobim, Ivan Lins, Luiz Bonfá, Jacques Brel, Caetano Veloso, Jorge Ben, João Bosco, Lucio Battisti, Roberto Menescal and more — offer priceless material for Minnozzi, and she commits to it body and soul. The "house" band, with Ricci on guitar joining pianist Helio Alves, bassist Eduardo Belo and drummer Rogerio Boccato, couldn't be more solid, supportive and freshly inventive. Kassin, world-renowned Brazilian producer and mix engineer, adds percussion on Marcos & Paulo Sérgio Valle's "Samba De Verão, " one of three tracks (along with Battisti's "E Penso A Te" and Veloso's "Coração Vagabundo") that he mixed for the album. "Kassin has a unique DJ approach to music, " says Minnozzi, "so these three tracks have a different dimension from the typical jazz mix." Ricci's electric and acoustic guitars fill the spectrum sonically and stylistically, with tasty wah-wah fills giving "E Penso A Te" an R&B twist. And the guests shine their brilliance in all the right spots: vibraphonist Joe Locke on the Bonfá classic "Carnival (Manhã de Carnaval), " clarinetist Don Byron on the aching Brel ballad "Ne Me Quitte Pas, " trombonist Doug Beavers on Jorge Ben's iconic "Mas Que Nada, " and keyboardist Michael Wolff and bassist John Patitucci together on the lilting, melancholy "Coração Vagabundo." Minnozzi is boundlessly expressive in all these settings, connecting to each lyric viscerally, regardless of language. The way she ends the Jobim number "Só Tinha De Ser Com Você" ("It just had to be with you") is emblematic of her creativity: she improvises fluidly, nails challenging arranged unison parts, and finally reaches beyond pitch altogether for a playful effect. It's that same uninhibited energy she brings to the stage, where everything including body language and gesture heightens the emotional impact of her delivery. Minnozzi's approach to a song is one of a kind, and Natural Impression is among the most invigorating examples of it to date. Minnozzi's previous Brazilian-based release, Sensorial: Portraits in Bossa & Jazz, was documented on video and brings the singer's gift vividly to life onscreen. In 2014 she and Ricci formed the eMPathia Jazz Duo, which released an eponymous debut followed by the albums Inside and Cool Romantics (the latter produced by GRAMMY winner Jeff Jones). She has performed at Birdland, Mezzrow, Zinc Bar and other leading New York area venues, collaborating with top jazz musicians including Art Hirahara, Victor Jones, Harvie S, Essiet Essiet, Will Calhoun (of Living Colour) and more. Her other recent releases include To Naples: Port of the Soul, with Brazilian pianist André Mehmari, in a tribute to the Neapolitan song tradition with a modern approach. During the pandemic Minnozzi released the albums Primavera and Estate, accompanied solely by Ricci's jazz guitar. Both were recorded live in the studio and captured on video, allowing the viewer to sense the adventure and surprise that defines Minnozzi's artistry. She continued her prolific output with Cinema City: Jazz Scenes from Italian Film (featuring David Liebman and Graham Haynes), also captured on video, on which she digs deep into her roots to explore the refined originality of composers such as Stelvio Cipriani, Henry Mancini, Renato Rascel, Carlo Rustichelli, Nino Rota and Ennio Morricone. About Mafalda Minnozzi A singer of international stature: the insiders say it, the public says it and the numbers confirm it. In 35 years of career Mafalda Minnozzi has performed over 1, 000 concerts on three continents, has produced 18 CDs, 2 DVDs, dozens of video clips and more than 250 videos recorded on the stages of theaters, auditoriums and festivals to document a career built "live". Her voice is featured on dozens of compilations and soundtracks of television series and films, in which she has also appeared as a composer.For Mafalda, singing is a necessity. With determination and courage she placed music at the center of all her life's choices, considering it to be the most powerful tool of cultural integration. Around the music she has created encounters, collaborations and projects to which she has dedicated all her energies. The approval of the critics and the unfailing "standing ovation" of the public at each concert, have paid off and continue to constantly reward her for her dedication. Her very soul is in fact international, because she welcomes the spirit of the three countries in which she has written the main chapters of her history to date: Italy, Brazil and the United States. Her Italian Soul Mafalda Minnozzi was born and raised outside of Milan and unlike her peers, she grew up listening to Piaf, Sinatra, Nat King Cole and Caterina Valente, fascinated by the sound and colors with which the voice can express itself in song. From there she began to listen to her own voice too, strong and in tune in keeping with her personality. As soon as she comes of age, she moves to Rome to challenge herself. She found the right stimulus with the maestro Gustavo Palumbo, with the choreographer Marco Ierva and with drama coach Roberto Marafante of Saverio Marconi’s “Compagnia della Rancia”. With a courageous “a cappella” audition she joins the cast of the Italy’s RAI TV show “Uno Mattina” where she stays for two seasons as lead singer with the show’s orchestra and with a second audition she conquers the stage of “La Cabala”, at the heart of Rome’s live music scene, frequented by the jet set, intellectuals and artists who enthusiastically applaud Mafalda’s concerts. As her popularity grows she receives invitations to perform in Munich, Athens, Malta and Paris and by accepting them, she definitively chooses the path towards musical exploration to experience, share and live the music. It was in these years that he learned to measure and control her voice and to embrace foreign languages, singing French chansons, American jazz and Bossa nova as well as the songs from Naples and from the Italian songwriters. By incorporating this vast repertoire, she formulated her very personal style that to this day, marks her unmistakable performances. Her Brazilian Soul In January 1996 Mafalda travels overseas to Rio de Janeiro, for an offer she couldn’t refuse: The Brazilian record label “Som Livre”, on the recommendation of an international talent-scout, offers her a contract which includes the release of three albums and a series of concerts to launch her voice in Brazil. Accompanied by some of the most famous Brazilian jazz musicians such as Nico Assumpção, Raul Mascarenhas, Luiz Alves, Jurim Moreira, Armando Marçal and Luiz Avelar, Mafalda first conquers Rio De Janeiro’s public, then the artistic community and finally the attention of the national media, which all propel her to “revelation” status. The major Brazilian networks dedicate interviews, specials and concert appearances to her on the most popular programs. It is the beginning of an absolute reciprocal love with the Brazilian public that has lasted for 25 years. In 1998, as she found an effervescent music scene open to meetings and collaborations, she moved her artistic base to São Paulo, where with her husband and manager Marco Bisconti, she founded MAMA productions, a record label and entertainment agency with which she laid the groundwork to organize her concerts throughout the country and the freedom to create projects that integrate her Italian origins with the Brazilian culture. The New York guitarist, arranger and producer Paul Ricci officially becomes part of her artistic world as musical director and together with him, Mafalda takes on all subsequent productions from then on until today. In Brazil, Mafalda realizes extraordinary collaborations, in studios and on stages, with Milton Nascimento, Leny Andrade, André Mehmari, Guinga, Ná Ozzetti, Toquinho and many others. With Samba legend Martinho da Vila, she records “Um Beijo, Adeus”, a version of “Prima Dammi Un Bacio” that the song’s composer Lucio Dalla himself classified as “pure poetry”. Both the Embassy and Consulates of Italy in Brazil partner with her for concerts for major events dedicated to Italian music, cinema and sport, including the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Olympics. Mafalda was alongside the legendary Italian Film critic Tonino Pinto in the first edition of the Giffoni São Paulo Festival and is a spokeswoman for Italy’s national tourism promotion campaigns in Brazil. Since 2003 she has been the correspondent from São Paulo for the RAI Radio 1 programs “Brasil” and “Stereonotte” with Max de Tomassi, where she reports live to tell of the musical and cultural news of the South American capital cities. Mafalda also received two important awards from Brazilian institutions: the Federal Government included Mafalda Minnozzi in the official list of the 500 most representative personalities of the country on the occasion of the event celebrating the 500th anniversary of the discovery of Brazil, and the Government of the State of Rio de Janeiro granted her honorary citizenship for cultural merits. Her American Soul The “eMPathia Jazz Duo” project is the vehicle she created with Paul Ricci in 2014 to continue to follow her “inner voice” and amplify the jazz that is in both of their musical DNA’s. Ricci’s jazz guitar stimulates her to revisit and reinterpret the authors of the international songbook that she loves so much and the treasure chest of the vast repertoire that she has amassed over the years. The result is an original sound made even more surprising by the perfect synchrony that the duo has honed over hundreds of performances. It is precisely New York, the capital of jazz, that Mafalda chose as the place to put this new challenge to the test. The audience of the coolest jazz clubs in New York such as Birdland, Mezzrow, Zinc, Jazz Forum, Trumpets and Luca’s are immediately conquered by the duo’s talent and Mafalda’s charisma. The first reviews in the specialized press describe it as a real revelation. The first CD “eMPathia Jazz Duo” (2015) recorded in Brazil was followed by “Inside” (2017) and “Cool Romantics” (2019), recorded in New York and produced by Grammy Award winner Jeff Jones. The Zerilli-Marimò organization of New York University and an important reference for Italian culture in the United States, consolidates Mafalda’s popularity by hosting her skillful mix of jazz, Latin rhythms and Italian passion for several concerts in their seasonal programs of prestigious cultural events before fascinated audiences. Mafalda’s voice, her “scat” and her performance style also attract the attention of the New York jazz community and create extraordinary meeting opportunities. Harvie S, Victor Jones, Art Hirahara, Rogerio Boccato, John Di Martino, Essiet Okon Essiet, Will Calhoun, Eduardo Belo and Helio Alves all recognize and enhance the value of the project by participating as “special guests” in many of her concerts. In particular Harvie S, Jones, Hirahara, Boccato and Ricci form the super-band with which Mafalda realizes two sold-out concerts at the Birdland Jazz Club that consecrate her among the most applauded singers in the “Big Apple”. Summing up The theme of travel has characterized Mafalda Minnozzi’s entire career. Portugal (Casa da Musica), Germany (Jazzahead, Passau Jazz Fest), Peru (Lima Jazz Festival), Austria (Outreach Jazz Festival), Spain (Womex), Paraguay (Asujazz Fest), France (MIDEM) and the United States (APAP and Denver’s Rocky Mountain Fest) are to be added to the list already mentioned. Among the musicians with whom she has collaborated, we should also remember Mario Pacheco from Portugal, Hugo Fattoruso from Uruguay and Sting’s sax player Butch Thomas. The Italian public has also had the opportunity to savor Mafalda’s voice on the stage of Rome’s prestigious “Casa del Jazz”, the JazzMI Festival in Milano, Padova Jazz Fest, Udin&Jazz Fest, the European Jazz Expo, the Peperoncino Jazz Festival and various series and festivals in Naples, Florence, Grado and Macerata (Musicultura). To continue presenting her musical concept “without borders” she invited noted Italian jazz soloists Gabriele Mirabassi, Giovanni Falzone, Antonio Onorato, Giovanni Ceccarelli, and Daniele di Bonaventura to the stage as well as the New York personalities John Di Martino, Harvie S and Victor Jones, who she took with her on an Italian tour just three months before the start of the devastating pandemic. Unable to perform live during the pandemic, Mafalda found other means to make her music travel for her. The album “SENSORIAL – Portraits in Bossa & Jazz”, produced in New York, entered the prestigious Jazzweek USA charts reaching the top 100 for 34 consecutive weeks and today boasts over 2, 500 performances on American jazz radio stations such as WBGO, KUVO, WUCF, WCLK, WDNA, JAZZ / 24. Mafalda follows SENSORIAL in April 2021 with a new album entitled “To Naples – Port of the Soul” which sees her for the first time with the Brazilian pianist André Mehmari in a tribute to the Neapolitan song tradition with a very modern approach. As a jazz improviser and classical composer, Mehmari masterfully blends Naples with the samba, baião and afoxé cultures of his roots in a perfect synthesis. Mafalda’s intense and creative voice recall her ancestral links with Italian melodrama and French cabaret in a stylistic blend that uses the voice as an element of instrumental jazz for yet another declarative statement. In the months that followed, Mafalda felt it was the right time to produce two new albums in a collection of songs that she often included in her concerts but had never put on record. Recorded during the pandemic in an intimate setting and accompanied solely by Paul Ricci’s jazz guitar, Mafalda released PRIMAVERA (June, 2021) and ESTATE (September, 2021). Both albums were recorded live in the studio and were also captured on video for a powerful emotional experience that allows the viewer to feel the sense of adventure and surprise that defines Mafalda’s music on stage as well as in the studio. Later in the same year, Mafalda continued her prolific output with “CINEMA CITY – Jazz Scenes From Italian Film”. Released in the North American market on the first of October, 2021, this was a dramatic departure from the intimacy of her previous duo albums. It was a true maiden voyage for her in that, for the first time, she embraced and dedicated an entire album to the suggestive and exclusive world of Italian film music with her inimitable jazz-inflected improvisational style. Always in the mix between Italian and Brazilian cultures, both on the screen and on stage, Mafalda will appear in two prestigious films in 2022, doing what she does best. Singing! “The Chisels Are Calling” (Street Singer Productions) is a documentary about the life of legendary luthier John Monteleone and features the likes of Mark Knopfler, Ben Harper and Mafalda Minnozzi, who performs a classic song from Naples with her guitarist Paul Ricci. Also slated for release in 2022 is a film by the iconic Italian director Enrico Vanzina dedicated to the rich tradition of Roman song where Mafalda’s jazzy interpretation of “Roma Nun Fa’ La Stupida Stasera” stands out in it’s charm and beauty. write your comments about the article :: © 2023 Jazz News :: home page |