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Buy lossless digital version in our Bandcamp digital storeTracklist
01. Really the Blues (Mezz Mezzrow) 03:16
02. Karen on Monday (John Carter) 03:48
03. Anu Anu (Randy Weston) 04:46
04. Winin’ Boy Blues (Jelly Roll Morton) 03:04
05. Dark Was the Night, Cold Was the Ground (Blind Willie Johnson)05:37
06. Golden Tooth Blues (Alberto Popolla) 02:48
07. Serene (Eric Dolphy) 04:12
08. Pop’s Blues (Gianfranco Tedeschi) 02:57
09. Cry, Want (Jimmy Giuffre) 06:06
10. Lonesome Blues (Louis Armstrong) 02:55
11. Bag’s Groove (Milt Jackson) 03:30
12. Pickin’ ‘Em Up and Layin’ ‘Em Down (Jimmy Giuffre) 03:15
13. Blues for Amiri B. (Errico De Fabritiis)05:57
Total time: 51.41
Video
Credits
Recorded Clive Simpson at Extrabeat Recording in Rome on 01/2020
Mastered and mixed by Clive Simpson at Extrabeat Recording in Rome on 10/2024
Cover artwork by Jean Beller
Layout by Davide Lorenzon
Produced by Alberto Popolla
Published by Aut Records
Description
Really The Blues is a deep and emotional journey into the heart of Bluesland, from the legacy of Jelly Roll Morton to Eric Dolphy, passing through Blind Willie Johnson, Jimmy Giuffre, Milt Jackson, and Randy Weston. Alberto Popolla, clarinetist of Roots Magic, explores in perfect solitude a sonic universe that intertwines tradition and avant-garde, the Delta and New Orleans, blue notes and experimentation, silences, abrasions, and soft tones.
With just the ebony of his clarinet, the tapping of his foot, and an array of objects turned into instruments, Popolla reinterprets and rewrites African-American history and its quintessential musical expression: the Blues. The result is an organic and coherent universe, evoking a spiritual intimacy and narrating, through a unique language, the essence of a music still alive and vibrant.
In addition to immortal compositions by some of the greatest jazz musicians, the sound material is enriched by original pieces written by Popolla and his fellow travelers from Roots Magic: saxophonist Errico De Fabritiis and double bassist Gianfranco Tedeschi.