Hot Casa Jazz | Fusion 3 Items

A fantastic 5th album of the sensational french Jazz band from pianist Florian Pelissier, recorded at Rudy Van Gelder Studio (New Jersey, Usa), mixed by Jordan Kouby at Question de Son (Paris) and mastered by Frank Merritt at The Carvery (London, UK). Hard Bop 2021 at his best, available as Deluxe Tip-On Vinyl LP! Florian Pellissiers tells the story: "How did we get here? In this tropical daze, contemplating the surrounding landscape, the luxuriance of nature, with the ocean and her ballet of gentle waves, caressing the sand - timidly gaining a few inches with each passing adagio. The temperature, as if perfectly adjusted to the most precise degree by an artful yet mercurial hand knowing full well that it could, with idle ease, sway the fragile quality of this luscious and suave atmosphere... However, just a few months before, the course had been set for New Jersey. More specifically; to Rudy Van Gelder's studio: one of jazz’s greatest unstitutions. This pilgrimage was to both celebrate and crown the twentieth anniversary of the Quintet. An unchanging line-up that yielded four albums, with this fifth recording intended to be our artistic culmination before moving onto something else. New adventures, on different roads perhaps. Van Gelder's studio, long revered to be a chapel for the artists who passed through it with it’s exceptional acoustics, was the place to be. Its woodwork seemingly encrusted with thousands of hours of Blue Note recordings, still pulsating with years of incantations from past sessions…now we too were going to make our own mark. By lighting the voodoo fire there, we would submerge the place in a collective trance. Dark and dense. Did we seek to summon voodoo? Of course not. It is the Loa of music who decides whether or not they will be present. Yet this record, or more, the one that I originally dreamt of, was so raw. The one I initially visualized to be messy, rich and spiritual actually clashed with the creative reality of the moment. The energy, the dynamics of the group were, at that time, not parallel with those tempestuous qualities so when we pushed, something resisted. We strived to sink into darkness - yet reality lead us back again and again towards an ever more sensitive space of grace and elegance. We arrived wanting to take out the machete, but finesse, in the end, called out to us. Obviously, the sessions saw new trails emerge, basked in a serendipitous and welcoming light. Rather than battling, we instead turned our compass towards the calmer latitudes of Capricorn and Cancer. It was then the Quintet embarked for tropical promenades in the newfound tranquillity of this legendary studio. So how did we get there? By not upsetting the creative forces that willed the powers of voodoo against taking our souls, at least this time anyway. From afar, my faithful creative daemons came galloping out, like gazelles, from the groove and gracefully forged a rhythm machine, encased with futuristic vibes that I myself then layered with synthesizers. At once intoxicated by all these sultry elements and ful filled by our orchestral solstice – I thought of Rio. And this one’s to my Rio."

Yaşar Akpençe was born in 1966 in Istanbul (Türquiye) and can be consider as one of the best world darbouka player. He began his career in music at the age of 9 by playing Congo and carried on with the darbuka at 13 and made his musical dream come true by working with famous musicians. Akpençe has performed as a guest musician on numerous albums as well as being the founder of the percussion collective known as « Harem Group ». Yasar has performed with almost every major artist in Turkey, spanning many genres including pop, traditional. gypsy, jazz, arabesque and contemporary. The track « Desert Wind » was released in 2004 on his cd album « Passion Percussion » and we ‘re very proud to reissue it for the first time on vinyl. This track is a dance floor classic ! A perfect tool for DJ’s all over the world.

Raised on opposite sides of the Atlantic, these two artists have combined their talents to compose “Lost Myself.” This musical voyage blends New York hard-bop aesthetics and Reggae-inspired elements with the jazz of today for a fresh spin on jazz classics and original compositions.

Vocalist Shola Adisa-Farrar, a native of Oakland, California, was born into a family of artists and intellectuals. Shola began singing at the age of eight, influenced by her Jamaican upbringing and the soul and jazz classics that played in her home. At a young age, Shola garnered attention for her distinct raspy voice, which enabled her to perform a variety of musical styles as well as secure radio spots as a voice-over artist. After living in New York City for eight years where she earned a Bachelors degree in Music, she is now an established resident in Paris. Shola spends her time travelling internationally to perform and developing her musical style. This album is her exploration into Jazz.

Florian Pellissier, Parisian pianist and composer, is known for the authenticity and hard-bop style he brings to his music. A graduate of The New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music, Florian has spearheaded his own quintet along with the release of two successful albums: Le diable et son train (2012) and Biches Bleues (2014). Florian has also contributed his musical talent, which includes his command of the “Rhodes,” to jazz and funk projects such as Setenta, Camarao Orkestra, Chevere Que Son, Cotonete and GUTS.

During Shola’s year-long residence as a performer for Le Reservoir’s Sunday Jazz brunch, Hot Casa Records’ DJ duo introduced Shola to Florian, sensing the two artists would musically compliment each other. In July 2013, their musical collaboration began. Bonding over their love of jazz autobiographies, swapping music, and improvising together, a studio collaboration was born in the hidden basement of Colorblind Studio on Paris’s Left Bank.

The result is eight spiritually-tinged jazz tracks recorded live on analog equipment to maintain the “traditional” quality of the music, from sultry introspections to rhythmic compositions grounded in intense emotion. Included are jazz classics such as Feeling Good and I Have A Dream, a tribute to the music of Herbie Hancock that has influenced Florian since his formative years in New York, to which Shola penned lyrics.