NICOLA CONTE Schallplatten & CDs

Review: The opening track on this LP sets the tone perfectly, with Gregory Porter's unmistakable voice bringing a nostalgic groove to the forefront. His rich, soulful delivery is matched by a supporting cast that includes Jose James, whose jazzy flair complements Porter's performance effortlessly. The music takes you on a journey, moving through soulful rhythms, jazz-inspired melodies and r&b hooks, with each track feeling timeless yet current. There's a warmth and ease throughout, as the artists build layers of sound that invite you in and keep you there, making it an album that begs for repeated listens.

Review: Nicola Conte's 'Do You Feel Like I Feel' and 'Ghana' were initially part of his 2011 album, 'Love & Revolution,' a project that showcased a vibrant mix of Italian and international jazz talent. Produced during sessions at Tommy Cavalieri's studios, this album never saw a vinyl releaseiuntil now. Schema Records is rectifying this with a new 2-LP edition, set to include these standout tracks. The 45rpm single, featuring 'Do You Feel Like I Feel' and 'Ghana,' highlights the core of Conte's vision: the soulful resonance of the former and the Latin-jazz flair of the latter. Both tracks are enhanced by Magnus Lindgren's arrangements and feature Gregory Porter, whose vocals, though still emerging at the time, are already a testament to his rising status in the jazz world. With this vinyl release, Conte's modern jazz masterpiece receives the physical format it deserves, offering a fresh opportunity to appreciate its intricate compositions and collaborations.

Review: Some 20 years on from the acclaimed Nicola Conte presents Rosalia De Souza album Garota Moderna, it now gets a full reissue across double vinyl on Schema out of Italy. It is a high class debut record that has more than stood the test of time and has always been of great interest to fans of artists like Patricia Marx and Bebel Gilberto. The singer's sunny vocals soar over the lush Brazilian rhythms with samba, bossa, broken beat and new jazz all thrown down and blended together. Instrumentals are rich and authentic and take you to a beach, sipping a cocktail under a beaming sun.

Review: Nicola Conte is one of the central figures in the Schema story, and his nu jazz and broken beat partnership with Gianluca Petrella has yielded some golden music in recent years. Nigeria originally came out in 2018, and then last year popped up on the duo's People Need People LP, but now it's getting a proper remix treatment which sees Tall Black Guy twisting the track out as a heady disco house roller for sundown moments when you need a little jazzy flair in the proceedings. That version comes in vocal and instrumental versions, and then the mighty Andres steps up for one of his simmering groove escapades as he delivers an extended remix of 'African Spirits'.

Review: Earlier this year, we were treated to two top-notch Joaquin 'Joe' Claussell remixes of 'Inner Light', one of the standout cuts from Nicola Conte and Gianluca Petrella's fantastic collaborative album People Need People. Here we're treated to two more fresh takes on cuts from that essential LP. On side A, DJ Spinna gives his 'galactic soul' take on 'New World Shuffle', re-imagining the track as a languid but floor-friendly fusion of cosmic soul, neo-boogie, deep house and contemporary jazz-funk electronics. Equally as impressive is former Ron Trent protege Anthony Nicholson's remix of 'Inner Light', where twinkling jazz pianos, spacey synth sounds, evocative synth-strings and Raashan Ahmad's fine spoken word vocals rise above a sumptuous and luxurious deep house groove.

Review: Long-established Italian producer Nicola Conte started working with jazz trombobist Gianluca Petrella back in 2017. In the years since, they've released a string of singles that fuse contemporary house sounds with the rhythms and musical styles of Africa. Here they present their collaborative debut album, People Need People, an effortlessly soulful affair that draws deeply on the pair's joint love of deep jazz-funk (see 'Hold On To Your Dreams') and the funk-fuelled goodness of Afrobeat ('Nigeria'). Throw in versions of those previously released singles (think 'African Spirits' and 'New World Shuffle' for starters), and you've got a highly entertaining full of high-quality musicianship and plenty of life-affirming melodic motifs.

Review: Nicola Conte and Gianluca Petrella follow up last year's beautiful "African Spirits / New World Shuffle" with two more lavish instrumentals. "Sun Song" lives up to its name with wave after wave of heated musicianship from the belting harmonies to the light-touch keys. "Nigeria" taps deep into the source too as it drives us through the heart of Lagos with full horns and sweeping keys. Spiritual, sun-splashed and vital.

Review: Nicola Conte and Nico Lahs, both Bari-born producers pushing the boundaries of underground Afro-Latin and jazzdance, hear the warmest of intros through their friends over at Schema Italy, their sound pivoting a careful Newtonian balance between presence and nostalgia. The roomy but distant highs of 'Macumba De Oxala' contrast strongly yet subtly to the hifi plinks and percs of 'La Danse De L'Esprit', on the latter of which we hear visiting production fellow Oaklandian Lalin St Juste add an ancestral vocal magic. This first EP is only a start, with a second 12" and a resultant double LP planned.