The Italian guitarist and bandleader Nicola Conte has recorded his first album for MPS. For the most part recorded in Bari, Italy and Johannesburg, South Africa, it is a sensitive work of art that crosses the border between soul and spiritual Afro-jazz.

 

Musicians hate to have to pigeonhole their music. Nevertheless, Nicola Conte makes the attempt: "You could call it spiritual or cosmic Afro-jazz. I could also agree with calling it Afro-soul." For his new album, "Let Your Light Shine On", this Italian DJ, producer, guitarist, and bandleader has casually interwoven soul and grooves pulsing with the beat and breath of Africa. In so doing, Conte combines elements that seemingly do not belong together.

 

This innovative jazz revivalist has always been open to sounds of every sort and color. Born in 1964, Conte formed the artist collective Fez in the early '90s in his native city of Bari, produced jazz and modern electronic-oriented Bossa Nova, and recorded film music. Conte’s eighth album conveys his interest in spiritual deceleration ("We should not be hemmed in by materialism. We need new perspectives!"). At the same time, his music has a political slant.