FABRIZIO SOTTI & FRIENDS feat. MELANIE FIONA & M1 OF DEAD PREZ
The world-renowned Italian jazz guitar virtuoso, producer, and songwriter successfully strikes a delicate balance between jazz and pop. It's only natural given his legacy of diverse musical collaborationsยwhich spans writing, producing and playing for everybody from Cassandra Wilson, Dead Prez, Q Tip, Estelle, Foxy Brown, K'naan, Melanie Fiona, Tupac and Jennifer Lopez to Whitney Houston and Gipsy Kings. However, on his latest record, the gap is effectively bridged as his impeccable chops meet irresistible melodies. Encompassing interpretations of six classic songs as well as six originals, he paints an intimate portrait of his personal history, and he also provides a glimpse at the future....
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FABRIZIO SOTTI & FRIENDS feat. MELANIE FIONA & M1 OF DEAD PREZ
The world-renowned Italian jazz guitar virtuoso, producer, and songwriter successfully strikes a delicate balance between jazz and pop. It's only natural given his legacy of diverse musical collaborationsยwhich spans writing, producing and playing for everybody from Cassandra Wilson, Dead Prez, Q Tip, Estelle, Foxy Brown, K'naan, Melanie Fiona, Tupac and Jennifer Lopez to Whitney Houston and Gipsy Kings. However, on his latest record, the gap is effectively bridged as his impeccable chops meet irresistible melodies. Encompassing interpretations of six classic songs as well as six originals, he paints an intimate portrait of his personal history, and he also provides a glimpse at the future.
After releasing the highly acclaimed collaboration Another Country with Cassandra Wilson, he began working on Right Now in early 2012 with a fresh perspective. Since first moving to New York from Italy in 1991, he's solidified himself as a premier presence in the jazz world with solo releases including 1999's This World Upside Down, 2004's Through My Eyes and 2010's Inner Dance. He's worked with prominent genre stalwarts including Al Foster, Randy Brecker, Roy Hargrove, John Patitucci, George Garzone, Cassandra Wilson,Terry-Lyne Carrington, Claudia Acuna to name a few. However, from the moment he started the sessions for Right Now with bassist Tony Grey and drummer Mino Cinelu, he knew that this collection would stand out from his extensive body of work.
"I've been blessed to have two careers, but they were always separate" he admits. "My career as a songwriter and producer has been primarily based in popular music, while as a recording artist, I've focused on the jazz field. Another Country prepared me to break some ground this time. I tried to write jazz with a pop feel. This came out of a spiritual necessity for me. I wanted to open up. It's very different from my previous work as an artist, but it's also very honest."
As he captured that honesty, he invited some notable friends to join him in the studio. On a heartfelt reimagining of Bob Marley's "Waitin' In Vain", his nuanced and intricate acoustic guitar playing matches up with smooth and soulful delivery from Shaggy and Res. The track holds a place in Sotti's heart for a myriad of reasons.
"Everybody loves Bob Marley," he affirms. "I had to do something special for this though. In the mid-nineties, I joined the Air Force in Italy because it was mandatory. They stationed me on the border of Yugoslavia in the middle of the war. 'Mr. Boombastic' came out, and people were blasting Shaggy all the time. The song comforted me during a very dark and tense period. I wanted Shaggy to do this with me because of that. He performed from his heart, and the track shows a different side of him. Also, Res sounds both fragile and communicative. Everything comes together really well."
The same could be said for the swaggering collaboration with Ice T and M1 of Dead Prez on Pink Floyd's "The Wall". His elegant musical arrangement stirs a potent brew of hip-hop and classical, fortified by flashes of instrumental fireworks.
"I've been listening to 'The Wall' since I was seven-years-old," he remembers. "I was an outcast because all I cared about was music. Everybody in Italy thought I was crazy. That song resonated with me so much though. I was also 14-years-old when the Berlin Wall fell. It was an historical moment when two worlds came together, and Germany was united again. Ice T and I wanted to tap into those social and emotional elements. It speaks for itself."
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