Italy

Operation Sole like the summer, hopefully, imminent; “Operazione Sole” like the 1967 song by Peppino Di Capri, considered, perhaps wrongly, the first ska in Italy, but certainly the first to talk about Jamaica and upbeat rhythms.The record you have in your hand is intended to be a testimony to how much the sounds born in Kingston between the '60s and '70s had a significant influence on local pop.With the first explosion of reggae in England between 1968 and 1970, as well as with the rise of Bob Marley to a worldwide cult phenomenon, parallel to the all-English phenomenon of Two Tone and the ska revival, Italy, always attracted by the new trends not only English, he certainly couldn't stay on the sidelines. Therefore these innovative and unknown upbeat sounds, derived from the blues of the 1950s and mixed with a Caribbean sauce, have also taken hold in the Bel Paese.It began as early as 1959 with the song “Nessuno” by Mina, considered to all intents and purposes a Jamaican shuffle, to arrive in a few years at blue-beat (I4 di Lucca, Claudio Casavecchi) and ska (Margherita, Peppino Di Capri , Silvano Silvi, Renzo and Virginia) and be exposed to the first reggae (for example Jo Fedeli and his Italian version of “Israelites” by Desmond Dekker). Thus, we quickly reach the end of the decade of the economic boom and the culture, styles, references change: everything becomes more busy (on a cultural, artistic and political level).After a stalemate phase that lasted more than five years, Bob Marley's reggae (considered a sort of new Messiah) conquers the planet, including Italy: the producers and artists, even at a high level, for a few years do not remain at all indifferent to this novelty and decide to introduce the "upbeat", primarily reggae, into the various pop repertoires: well-known names such as Loredana Bertè, Mario Lavezzi, Rino Gaetano, Ivano Fossati, Ilona Staller, Adriano Celentano, Edoardo Bennato throw themselves headlong into new sonic adventures, in a pioneering way, but often with excellent results.The "Operazione Sole" collection wants to take the credit, instead, of proposing and discovering lesser-known artists (with the exception of Gino Santercole, former associate and relative of Il Molleggiato), often real meteors in the Italian musical panorama, who have tried to achieve (or achieve again) success by adapting the pop that was so popular in those years to the new black sounds prevailing in the West.We are in the early 80s and we range from the most classic reggae, to Italo-disco contaminated by dub up to the true Neapolitan style which, on more than one occasion, in its being endemically "black" and full of groove, has wrung out the watch out for agreements made in Kingston and London.“Operation Sun”: a pleasant philological work, but surrounded by an equally pleasant aura of disengagement.

Elusive Italo duo Maurizio e Dandolo return with Demin, a dreamy disco dancer celebrating the iconography of 1980s Italian summer and the heydays of Italo Disco.Unfolding over an equally suave and hard-hitting tapestry of synths and drum machine, Demin plays with the authors’ nostalgia for the hazy and sun-drenched summers on the Italian eastern coast of their hometown of Pescara.In the unmistakable and unmatched tradition of Italo Disco, Demin strikes a balance between the irrepressible desire to let loose on the dancefloor and the touching nostalgia for a past that, perhaps, was never lived but only dreamed of. That of the halcyon days of Italian design cars blasting synthy bangers from the radios, beach establishments with their candy-striped umbrellas, neon-lit discotheques and dancers in outrageous designer shirts, teenage flirts, and denim bracelets, the true icons of that era which Maurizio e Dandolo tribute in the song title.Demin is set to become one of the ultimate dancers of the summer of 2024, an anthem for cheeky disco riviera flirts and boogies.After being originally released on digital platforms, Demin is now finally out on 7” vinyl format too, accompanied on the B-side by an unreleased scratch version: a dub mix by Rome DJ and establishment Francisco.

During the weekends, we used to drive a 131 "caffellatte" for a trip out of town towards the South. Family adventures from a distant time, the cassettes carefully chosen long before the departure, all around us the scent of the sea and in the background the Vesuvius.In a kaleidoscope of memories and Mediterranean influences, Baffone recount in their own special way that Golden Age between the 70s and 80s. An era full of dreams, passions, unresolved issues and dizzying grooves.Mixing Napoli Soul, Funk, Disco and songwriting, Baffone gives us a profound investigation of the human soul, performed with an original and authentic language.A tribute to primordial forces, the sea, the lava earth and the childhood that slips away.

Wanna Dance' is the new jam by deep house heavyweight Sean McCabe (Good Vibrations) and Last Forever chief Turbojazz. Said to be conceived during the lockdown period, the track recalls the energy of classic Detroit deep house and even features one of the city's favourite voices in the form of Javonntte. On the flip, the spiritual vibe of Moondance's rework calls to mind the work of Motor City legend Alton Miller, while EVM128 aka Evermean Beats really soaks up the vibe of his new hometown - London - on his nu-jazz broken beat perspective that would make even Kaidi Tatham stand up and notice.

After reuniting Cosmic Renaissance and releasing the album “Universal Language” (SCLP/CD513) in 2022, Gianluca Petrella returns to the future jazz scene 2023 as a protagonist with a new five-track LP, “Universal Message”, again on Schema Records label, keeping the wind section of the original record unchanged. Among the most versatile musicians around today, Gianluca here evolves his style into new forms of futurism afro-jazz with three revisitations in electronic-jazz dance key of “Universal Language” and “Connection”, as well as two previously unreleased tunes, the title-track and “Mutation”, for a final result that is greater than the sum of its parts. And there is no better description of this music than a complete and total immersion in its sonic waves!