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reviews

FUNK THAT JAZZ (© 2008 Langella Domenico LDCD-002)

- Liner notes by Simone Salvatore (Guitarist and contributor to Axe magazine)

     The concept of "jazz" is difficult to define and like any other vague term it can mean anything. Over the course of their careers, many great musicians have altered the concept several times and with each time have redefined this term their own way; transfiguring - suffice it to think of Davis - what was taken for granted, into something new. Listening to the new work of Mimmo Langella forces the listener to smile for at least two good reasons: the first is that it’s about music that’s accessible and capable of being absorbed easily; second, bound up with the first, is that the guitarist succeeds in forgetting all the "grammar" making way for, in the ear of the listener, just its notes. Langella continues the musical journey begun some years ago with the record The Other Side. The jazz/blues influences absorbed after all these years merge naturally into a fine blend of styles on the rhythmic territory of black music roots (with pleasant hints of modern electro-lounge trends), colored with "retro" timbres so warm and "alive" that, when the listener closes their eyes, they seem to be there in the studio during the recording sessions. The bandleader shows great maturity in conducting the combo, accommodating his partners and relegating his fine guitar technique in the service of his music. The feeling that emerges between the musicians results in an artistic project pursued with the sincere and daily commitment of one, who deeply loves what he does. In terms of composition, the music of Langella is once again personal, fresh and melodically engaging; the phrases of the neapolitan guitarist are articulated in the rhythm that has the naturalness of one, who knows the language that he speaks perfectly and doesn’t need to confuse the listener with words borrowed from other people. The tracks sung by Marcello Coleman will make people think again who persist in maintaining that a catchy tune is the opposite of a sophisticated piece of music capable of communicating a deeper message; coherently with the rest of the project, the duets with Scott Henderson don’t have the connotation of a duel to the last note between virtuosos, but rather a much more enjoyable one of a dialogue between friends catching up on the latest news. This is a record that, thanks to its - seeming - simplicity, can be listened to on several levels: the singing quality of the music is such, as to win over even those, who have never approached the genre; the refinement of the harmonic solutions and the improvisations goes straight to the heart of anyone, who already loves this music.

THE OTHER SIDE (© 2002 Langella Domenico LDCD-001)

- Liner notes by Fabrizio Dadò (Axe Magazine Editor)

     Relaxation and Truth. These are the two key words that can act as parallel guides in the listening of the first Mimmo Langella record as leader, "learned" guitarist (he graduated with honors at the mythical G.I.T. of Hollywood, in years when this Musicians Institute department was still a coveted world-wide stylistic-educational reference) and endowed with spontaneous passionate nature he evidently got from his origins. Busy and highly regarded session and side-man, Mimmo put by the service spirit of musician that offers his craft to other people to show in this first solo work his "other side", or rather his "other sides", the composer, arranger and soloist ones. In The Other Side surfaces all the passion of this neapolitan guitarist for the jazz tradition, for the r&b and for the black music at large. We follow the succession of tunes, tied by a groove that never fails, and all marked with a clever recreation of vintage tones revisited in the modern manner; we listen the guitar improvising with relaxed fluency on the solid groove laid down by his travelling companions, in pursuit of the spontaneous solution suggested by the moment and the feel. Here technique, in a world where the current production very often serves just to show off licks and chops of the virtuoso on turn, is taken for granted, there is nothing to show; but suffice it to simply follow the shrewd note flowing through the chords to realize that you don't deal with "brawny" musicians, but with the real ones, gathered in the studio to play live, all the band is present to honor the leader with an agreement and a firmness of rare effectiveness. A guarantee for whoever simply wants to listen to the core of the good music, to the sincere and polished flowing of the emotions, which are given to everybody and aren't intended for just musicians, who'll find in this work one's match, though. Well then, the words "relaxation and truth" give the mark to point out this record to the lover of the good music: relaxed is the attitude of the one who knows what he can and wants to do, of the one who doesn't need too many superstructures to express one's feelings; truthful is the artistic result achieved by Mimmo Langella with The Other Side, the intimate and sincere one of a musician in the round.  

- MJBrady, Prognosis - Progressive Rock & Fusion, 02/10/2003, www.Silverdb.com/MUSIC_DBCDInfo.asp?txtCDID=6517 

     Mimmo Langella is a guitarist from Italy, who has spent a decent amount of time in the U.S. studying his craft, and currently residing in his homeland. This cd represents his first recording as a solo artist, and on this release, he has opted to play a mostly instrumental variety of groove heavy, blues influenced, and urban feeling fusion music.
His playing is very relaxed, as is the playing of his bandmates, this music treads the fine line of blues and jazz, not unlike what many had become accustomed to during the 70's, when many fusion bands were adopting some blues, funk and jazz to set the foundation for solo spots by the bandmembers. This cd has a real retro feel to it, every instrument is raw and unadulterated, right down to the Rhodes, jazz drumming, smooth bass playing, and Langella's Eric Gale sounding guitar tone.
Typically my tastes in fusion run more towards the intense, fast, and technical, Langellas' The Other Side hints at a very different style, if not a different era of music. Content to simply set down some fairly cliched rhythmic backdrops, he allows the band the freedom to comp over these settings with a lot of free flowing improvisations, the cd has a genuine live feel.
The Other Side is not an earthshaking recording, but a very nice tribute to the days of 'cool' jazz, when the feel of blues, the shuffle of jazz, and the sounds of rock were melting together to define a new music in the making. If your tastes in fusion are geared towards the bluesier side of the guitar, say in the mode of: Eric Gale, Mike Stern, John Scofield, or even some of Scott Henderson's solo material, you should consider giving this a try.