Blue Moka - Blue Moka (2018)

Blue Moka is the debut album of the homonymous quartet composed of Alberto Gurrisi (Hammond), Emiliano Vernizzi (sax), Michele Bianchi (guitar), and Michele Morari (drums) with the extraordinary participation of Fabrizio Bosso. The album collects eight original songs that combine blues atmospheres with funky rhythms and R&B, opening up to New York nu-jazz. To these pieces are added two standards by Wayne Shorter ("Footprints") and Michel Petrucciani ("Brazilian Like") and a tribute to Lucio Dalla ("Futura"), a musician very dear to the band. Blue Moka takes up the colors of the American jazz tradition but experiments with the chromatic textures, creating a new shade of blue: a blue moka. A stylistic number that oscillates between research of language, tradition, and groove, a space that all members live with irony and complicity also thanks to the energetic sound that distinguishes them. The Blue Moka born in this way, in 2009, from an idea of a group of close-knit friends in love with jazz. The inclusion of Emiliano Vernizzi on sax has further expanded the sound possibilities and increased the need to create an original repertoire. Blue Moka collects the different souls of the band and is a mixture of modern jazz, R&B, and funk, with great respect for the Hammond tradition of the '60s. In the background, the numerous artists who influenced and formed the members of the quartet: Jimmy Smith, Art Blakey, Wynton Marsalis, Brian Blade, Pat Metheny, up to Robert Glasper, Roy Hargrove, and Larry Goldings. Among the original songs, "Bacon VS Tofu" (by Emiliano Vernizzi) is the first song played with Bosso, while "I Felt This For You" (by Michele Bianchi) was the decisive piece that highlighted the capacity of the group to explore new sounds together. Characterized by a clear Nordic sound juxtaposed with the typical bop of the Hammond, "Clear" (by Morari and Bianchi) is a reason that Michele Morari had in mind during a lonely trip to Lapland. 30 months born from one session of four days of tests, during which Alberto Morari ate Parmigiano- Reggiano aged 30 months. Personnel: Michele Morari - drums; Alberto Gurrisi - Hammond; Michele Bianchi - guitar; Emiliano Vernizzi - sax; Fabrizio Bosso - trumpet.

Tracklist:
01. Blue Moka - 30 mesi (feat. Fabrizio Bosso)
02. Blue Moka - Bacon vs. Tofu (feat. Fabrizio Bosso)
03. Blue Moka - Futura
04. Blue Moka - Clear (feat. Fabrizio Bosso)
05. Blue Moka - I Felt This for You
06. Blue Moka - I - Rig (feat. Fabrizio Bosso)
07. Blue Moka - Beauty
08. Blue Moka - Brazilian Like (feat. Fabrizio Bosso)
09. Blue Moka - Lotus Flower
10. Blue Moka - Footprints (feat. Fabrizio Bosso)
11. Blue Moka - Mister