About

Alessandro Florio: guitar

Troy Roberts: sax

Kyle Koehler: hammond B3

Carmen Intorre Jr: drums

Recorded at Tedesco Studios NJ USA. Mixed by Roberto Pistolesi. Mastered by David Darlington

After a full ten years since the last one, I felt it was time for a new Hammond trio album, partly to continue the journey, partly to challenge myself with the experience I gained from various tours with Pat Bianchi and Carmen Intorre J.

It’s a tribute to the music I love, to its groove, its “soul,” and its heartbeat without which it wouldn’t still be so vibrant even today.

I wanted an immediate and spontaneous album, just like the spirit of jazz calls for: a session with one or, at most, two takes per track, reflecting a great day in the studio among friends having a blast.After a full ten years since the last one, I felt it was time for a new Hammond trio album, partly to continue the journey, partly to challenge myself with the experience I gained from various tours with Pat Bianchi and Carmen Intorre Jr.

It’s a tribute to the music I love, to its groove, its “soul,” and its heartbeat without which it wouldn’t still be so vibrant even today.

There are even tracks that were not planned, such as Trouble #02 (by Stanley Turrentine), which started from an idea by Troy Roberts, who suddenly began playing the theme in the studio, and we followed along. (You can actually hear that Tom Tedesco, the sound engineer, didn’t manage to start recording the take from the beginning; he too was challenged more than us to figure out what was happening in there!).

Controra is a difficult term to translate; it refers to the moment after lunch in the sun-drenched villages of South Italy, when everything is still, everything is closed, a bit like the Spanish Siesta, yet it has nothing to do with the hustle of New York.

Controra Avenue is an imaginary street where the ground is strictly jazz, but the inspirations, and sometimes the melodies, continue to be those of the sea and the rocks, the streets from which I come.

The standards featured here are tracks I’ve recently enjoyed playing at various concerts with Laura (Born to be Blue) and Carmen (Will You Still Be Mine).

I tried to rearrange Reginella, one of the most famous pieces from the great Neapolitan tradition of the early 1900s, imagining a big band, or the Poll Winners with Barney Kessel, while I thought of arranging Come Pioveva (another beautiful piece from the same period by the Neapolitan Armando Gill) in the style of Franco Cerri, my first teacher and inspiration. Both pieces symbolize my roots: my father used to sing them to me, lulling me to sleep when I was a child.

Other fruits of my land are Fratm’ Fa, a traditional shuffle dedicated to my dear friend Fabio Gambardella, who passed away too soon, and Punta Germano, a little idea that came to me just a few days before leaving for New York, off the coast of Amalfi.

NEW ALBUM “ROOTS INTERCHANGE” with PAT BIANCHI and CARMEN INTORRE JR.(+special guest GEGE” TELESFORO) AVAILABLE FOR DOWNLOAD HERE:

www.cdbaby.com/cd/alessandrofloriotrio

QUOTES:

“Alessandro’s new release is a great record in the classic sense of the term: an album of tunes with
contrasts of style and grooves that keeps the listener entertained from start to finish. Performed by a
stellar rhythm section, it harkens back to the tradition of organ trios with Boogaloo and blues to ballads. Even though there is a lot of energy in this set of music what stands out to me are the beautiful ballads penned by the leader – check out “V” and the walking ballad “Ring Shout” and enjoy!”

Freddie Bryant (guitarist, composer, associate professor at Berklee College of Music)

“The thing that two young, and terrific, talents like Florio and Magatelli are able to make such a new
and special music with such old ingredients it is an ultra-rare circumstance, in Italy and not only in
Italy.”

Vincenzo Martorella- Music Critic (JazzIt, AllAboutJazz Italy, Chitarre etc..)

«Alessandro has a shining, brilliant tone that adds a bite to his arrangements and original songs along
with his clever and inventive chords. This duo recording shows his “Monk-like” humor that is rare in
guitar recordings. It also shows that he’s using his influences to develop a unique and individual
voice».

Freddie Bryant – Guitar Player, Associate Professor at Berklee College of Music