Paolo “Apollo” Negri, the world-renowned Italian Hammond organist, brings his one of a kind musical style to the table with A Bigger Tomorrow. A Bigger Tomorrow is a masterful blend of funk, rhythm & blues, jazz, soul, groove and fusion tunes. Over 20 guest musicians, including members from New Mastersounds, Diplomats of Solid Sound, Montefiori Cocktail, Phat Fred, Cucumber, Speaklow, Nick Rossi Set, among many others, are featured on the album. The album features Paolo “Apollo” Negri’s intense, emotional and vivacious Hammond A-102 organ playing. In addition to the unique organ sound created by Negri, the album includes an eclectic mix of instruments, including electric piano, various synthesizers, flute, maracas, congas, bongos, tenor saxophone and several guitars played through numerous amplifiers and effects pedals. Because of its interesting and eclectic mix of instruments, this album sounds like it is from a different time and place, which makes it refreshing and fun to listen to.
Considered one of the finest Hammond organ players throughout the world, Negri’s album A Bigger Tomorrow is extremely diverse from start to finish. The first tune on the album is “Applecore,” which features an up-right bass, jazz percussion, Gibson Les Paul guitar, tenor saxophone and, of course, the frenetic and emotional Hammond A-102 organ. This tune, like many others on the album, are upbeat, jazzy instrumental jams with a dash of psychedelic madness, funky energy, lounge ambiance and rhythm and blues/groove soul. “Big City” takes it down with a bluesy, laid-back jazz feel. This song creates a feel of less funk and more lounge with a jazz guitar solo and more concentrated organ sound.
Only two songs on the album have vocals—“Can’t Get Satisfied” and “Closer.” “Can’t Get Satisfied” is an upbeat, entertaining song with simple, laid-back jazz vocals and frenetic organ playing. The other song on the album that includes vocals is “Closer.” Featuring a female jazz/pop vocal, “Closer” is slow-medium tempo jazz song with a soulful and crisp sound. Its sexy and sultry appeal, in addition to jazz/pop vocals makes it strongly reminiscent of the song, “Spooky” performed by Dusty Springfield from the Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels soundtrack.
“3 in a Bed”, “Point of Intersection” and “Mr. & Mrs. Thunderbird” are jazzy, funky songs with a psychedelic sound. The varied percussion instruments used on these songs, such as timbales, congas and maracas give the songs funky, almost tropical islands feel. “Orange Peel” is another example of a song with a tropical, psychedelic feel, starting off with congas and adding in the organ and a Wah-Wah guitar effect. “A Slice of Funk!” is a jazz/groove/rock song that includes a spoken word clip of a waitress asking for a man’s order and his reply, “Just a cup of coffee and a slice of funk!” This is just one example of where Paolo “Apollo” Negri adds in small, but interesting details to songs to give them an overall unique and eclectic quality.
“Under the Rain, Waiting For You” is the album’s most moody song; with its lower-octave organ parts and slower beat, this tune truly becomes a rainy day song. “Song For My Father” is a slow-medium tempo blues/jazz tune with a great tenor sax solo. “Let the Sun Catch You Sleeping” is a song that blends rhythm & blues, rock, jazz, and funk. Like many others on the album, this song contains a great jazz guitar solo and perfect breakdown of percussion and organ. “Filtersweeping, Mommy is Weeping,” the longest song on the album, ends our journey through A Bigger Tomorrow like a rolling wave. The song starts off with steady jazz percussion and flows into a spacey electric piano and guitar sound adding in several Hammond organ solos. The song ends with a slower, moodier synthesized strings outro.
The best way to describe Paolo “Apollo” Negri’s performance style on A Bigger Tomorrow is simple: Jimi Hendrix on organ. Negri plays with color and feeling, and, although it seems in some songs like he is all over the place, he is playing from the heart and creates a transcendent feeling like Hendrix created with his guitar. Overall, this album sounds like it is from a different era, most closely the Sixties or Seventies. Colorful and psychedelic, this musical montage creates lively sounds of rhythm & blues, jazz, soul, funk, fusion, rock, gospel and groove. Everything about this album, from the names of the songs to the myriad of instruments used in each tune, is extremely distinctive and eclectic. A Bigger Tomorrow is a perfect example of amazing musicianship, innovative style and creative energy.
Artist Note: Paolo “Apollo” Negri is a highly regarded session organ player in Italy who started his career with an Italian progressive trio, Nice Price. He went onto play with several musicians, although his most regarded projects are: The Link Quartet, a sixties lounge/acid jazz ensemble and Wicked Minds, a hard-progressive band.
Erin Bruno-MuzikReviews.com Contributor
March 10, 2008
