Saturday, December 23, 2017

USA/ITALY: MoonJune new release: SLIVOVITZ - LiveR => progressive funk-jazz-rock from Naples, Italy

MoonJune Records announces
SLIVOVITZ - LiveR
January 2018 release 
Available in HD 24/88.2 • CD • LP 180 grams vinyl
Ready to ship on December 7 !!!
 
 
 
 
 
Dear Friends in Music

Please welcome the fourth album of the progressive jazz-rock group from Napoli, Italy - SLIVOVITZ on MoonJune Records. The album is available in multiple formats: HD Download (24bit/88.2khz WAV, FLAC, M4A, MP3-320) and CD (rigid cardboard Mini LP gatefold style packaging, on MoonJune, in collaboration with Audio Anatomy, Poland) and LP - 180 gram vinyl(released in a limited quantity on the Italian vinyl only label SoundFly). 


Recorded live in Milan, Italy, in May of 2016, "LiveR" showcases the eccentric Italian maestros at their collective best – playful, daring and just having fun! Some of their most potent material to date (primarily from their heralded 2011 release, "Bani Ahead" and 2016's delectable "All You Can Eat") is revisited in truly refreshing style: uninhibited, lively, but still with their decidedly tight synchronicity and intuitive interplay as a unit. Brilliant individual moments abound, with many songs extending well beyond their previously-established studio confines: affording soloists the opportunity to really step out and shine, while harmonic and rhythmic potentials are explored with playful delight by an always-adventurous rhythm section, steadily smoldering in the background.

While many live albums may come across as merely a rehash or an attempted recapturing of some previous musical magic, from the opening frame it's apparent that Slivovitz is completely engaged in the material -- showcasing both their collective and individual brilliance and ambition, while continuing to push the bounds of each song's structural and harmonic blueprints. This album roars with intensity, while serving as a testimony to the intrepidity and unfettered spirit of adventure which make this band one of progressive music's most unique, innovative collective entities.

"LiveR" is a merry frolic; a wonderfully vibrant live recording (enhanced by excellent production) which continues to grows on you with repeated listenings ... delightful, essential ear candy! 

All original tune except a great cover of Nirvana's seminal tune Negative Creep.

SLIVOVITZ are:
PIETRO SANTANGELO tenor saxophone
MARCELLO GIANNINI guitars  
DEREK DI PERRI harmonica
CIRO RICCARDI trumpet
RICCARDO VILLARI electric violin
VINCENZO LAMAGNA bass
SALVATORE RAINONE drums

Influences: Napoli Centrale, Snarky Puppy, Mahavishnu Orchestra, Frank Zappa, Soft Machine, John Zorn, Goran Bregovic, la vera pizza napoletana, caffe espresso, and above all "slivovitz"!

"To call them a progressive gypsy mélange of free-form exotica is only hinting at their greatness. Jazz-rock fusion is much too mundane an appellation for these musical weirdos." -  Mike Greenblatt, Classicalite Magazine (USA)

"Freely grabbing inspiration from all manner of styles, the Neapolitan band Slivovitz functions as a high- efficiency musical omnivore, digesting and reworking different aspects of seemingly disparate raw materials into a seamless, organic whole." - Dave Wayne, All About Jazz (USA)

"One of the unique flavors that makes Slivovitz stand out is their Klezmer and Balkan influences. The integration of all these styles is so smooth and perfectly fitting, you simply don’t notice some of them. It’s the genius of a composer to accomplish this. Like the perfect painting that has many styles but is so marvelous that all you see is the imagine. Italy has produced so many extremely high caliber progressive bands, and Slivovitz is yet another one to add to the list. Slivovitz can cook as good as anyone I have heard, and they can slow it down and let it breathe as well. If you listen to every song, you’ll get unexpected twists and turns." - Lee Henderson, ProgNaut (USA)

"..incredibly strong melodic sensibility that is both accessible and challenging when it needs to be... tight, punchy arrangements for a guitar and brass-dominated sound drawing on a swirling current of rock, world and fusion." - Sid Smith, Postcards From The Yellow Room / Prog Magazine (UK)​​​​​​​

Video of the tune Mani In Faccia: www.goo.gl/9rFktE

2018 concerts all around Italy, Balkans and South-East Asia soon to be announced on the band's Facebook:

Dedicated to Joe Zawinul, Frank Zappa, John Zorn and James Senese / Napoli Centrale.