Andrea Rinciari - Soho Sessions

Italian jazz guitarist Andrea Rinciari's 'Soho Sessions', presents eight carefully curated jazz standards and hidden gems with a stellar quartet featuring tenor saxophonist Alex Garnett, bassist Lorenzo Morabito and drummer Mark Taylor. The album represents a great period of my life where I was playing in Soho every week with this band and we were able to create a vast repertoire of tunes by various different composers, from American songbook composers to the most obscure bebop artists, explains Rinciari. So, the tracks of this album are a good representation of those tunes.

'Soho Sessions' features a mix of classic and lesser-known compositions, including a Barry Harris arrangement of 'Bean And The Boys', a rare John Collins piece ('John's Delight'), and a reharmonised 'I Can't Get Started' inspired by Teddy Wilson. Other highlights include a fresh take on 'Tea For Two', Bud Powell's groove-driven 'John's Abbey', and deep cuts by Freddie Redd and Elmo Hope/Sonny Rollins, 'Time to Smile' and 'Carvin' the Rock' respectively. The album closes with Rinciari's signature contrapuntal solo interpretation of 'Polka Dots And Moonbeams'.

Rinciari's dynamic quartet breathes new life into the music while exploring fresh harmonic and melodic ideas. This album is a reflection of the magic that happens when musicians play together regularly. The tracks capture the spirit of our weekly Soho sessions - improvised, refined, and always evolving, concludes Rinciari. It's a tribute to the jazz greats who have inspired me and the amazing musicians I'm lucky to play with.