\u201cHandful of Soul\u201d, Mario Biondi\u2019s three-time platinum debut album \u2013 originally released in 2006, when you had to sell 80.000 copies of an album to get a platinum certification \u2013 and his most sold record to date.<\/p>\n
Everything about this incredible album, that hit like a bolt from the blue at the time, has already been said. Mario\u2019s deep and warm voice recalls the great soul and rhythm\u2019n\u2019blues music interpreters. Many will think of a black singer, while Mario comes from the town of Catania, Sicily. \u201cHandful of Soul\u201d ranges between jazz and soul, resulting in a very enticing music release, whose sound swings from smooth vocal melodies to rhythmic tracks to dance to. The singer and the producers successfully managed to find out songs that wouldn\u2019t change the nature of Mario\u2019s voice, that could highlight the deepness of his tone, yet in the same time would still be able to represent the artistic direction and the music lead followed by Schema Records.<\/p>\n
The love for r\u2019n\u2019b\u00a0 and soul, the styles of music mostly appreciated by Mario, brought him to listen to a certain music repertoire, in particular some of the most representative related artists (Earth, Wind & Fire, Donny Hathaway. Billy Paul, Luther Vandross, Lou Rawls, Aretha Franklin, Eryka Badu, Will Dowing…). The songs on this record have been played by trumpeter Fabrizio Bosso and his High Five Quintet, a strong all-star ensemble with an excellent interplay that involves some of the best musicians in today\u2019s Italian jazz scene: Daniele Scannapieco on tenor sax, Luca Mannutza, Pietro Ciancaglini and Lorenzo Tucci, respectively on piano, double bass and drums, forming a solid rhythm section. Mannutza and Ciancaglini were also in charge of the arrangements. High Five are able to play Jazz in an instinctive way; they perfectly adjusted to this production in a natural way, making this album a very pleasant listening.<\/p>\n
Clear blue vinyl 2LP edition with gatefold cover.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
First album by jazz vocalist Mario Biondi with the High Five Quintet band, reissued in a special 2LP clear blue vinyl with gatefold cover.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":198439,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","advgb_blocks_editor_width":"","advgb_blocks_columns_visual_guide":""},"product_brand":[],"product_cat":[31813,31863],"product_tag":[40730,40650],"class_list":["post-159163","product","type-product","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","product_cat-jazz-en","product_cat-jazz-lp-en","product_tag-soul-jazz-en","product_tag-vocal-jazz-en","pa_artista-mario-biondi","pa_artista-mario-biondi-and-the-high-five-quintet","pa_format-2lpcd-en","pa_label-edizioniishtarschemarecords-en","first","instock","purchasable","product-type-simple"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n