On, the 31st of August we will see the light, the new single by the award-winning Italian guitarist and composer Roberto Tola, titled SAYS.
Inspired by a song of the legendary Al Jarreau and Philippe Saisse, Roberto Tola himself promises a really crackling and groovy song, boasting an international stellar band.
SAYS is the new Jazz Funk single of the Sardinian guitarist and composer Roberto Tola, a new product that will also be included in his next album, provisionally titled PRESAGE, which is scheduled to be released next winter 2023. For this new instrumental song, Roberto was inspired by a composition by the famous American singer Al Jarreau, and Philippe Saisse entitled Says, in fact.
From the original song, Roberto has extrapolated only the part of the refrain (ritornello) using it instead as the main theme in his arrangement, which he himself plays with his own electric guitar, with a slightly distorted and crunching sound.
All the rest of the new single arrangement is new and originally composed and conceived by Roberto, so as the guitar solos throughout the track.
A roster of very talented and professional musicians forms Roberto Tola's Band:
Roberto Tola - Guitars, Additional Keyboards, Composition, Arrangements, Graphics, Designer, Producer;
Andrea Tofanelli - Trumpet;
Ismael Dorado - Alto & Tenor Sax;
Michele Fortunato - Trombone;
Marco Rasa - Eletric Piano & Pad;
Maciek Szczyciński - Bass;
Esteban Rotunno - Drums;
Mixing e Mastering: Roberto Tola - EBM Studio (Eden Beach Music), Sassari, Sardinia (Italy)
SAYS is the new single of the Sardinian guitarist and composer Roberto Tola, a new product that will also be included in his next album, unofficially AND PROVISIONALLY titled PRESAGE, which is scheduled to be released next winter 2023. For this new song, Roberto was inspired by a composition by the famous American singer Al Jarreau, entitled Says, in fact. From the original piece, Roberto has extrapolated only the part of the refrain (ritornello) using it instead as the main theme in his arrangement, which he himself plays with his own electric guitar, with a slightly distorted and crunching sound, a Paul Reed Smith, 24 fret custom model. Roberto then created a new and original refrain for his arrangement, as well as composed a captivating interlude positioned in the center of the piece, with another theme played in unison with the horn section and which literally divides the track into two parts. The interlude shows a crescendo, which at its peak then acts as a launch for Roberto's distorted solo virtuoso, the only improvised solo of the whole piece, which also closes the song.
The track includes a high-level roaring horn section, which in the original song was absolutely not covered. This aspect of Roberto's arrangement makes the piece even more interesting and original, also due to the wealth of details and compositional and arranging skills of the Sardinian artist, who now boasts several compositions for enlarged ensembles, such as those typical of the Big Bands, coveted in which he worked for about 20 years in the past, participating in several jazz big bands, such as the Blue Note Orchestra, the Jazz Orchestra of Sardinia and Roberto Pregadio's Big Band.
Given the technical and executive difficulty of the piece itself, deliberately created by Roberto to give energy and strength to the whole, the artist has called to himself some virtuosos of the European and international music scene, namely Andrea Tofanelli (Trumpet), one of the 30 trumpet players in the world who can boast of performing limpidly and with precision, high notes up to the 5th and 6th octave, which Roberto needed for his arrangement. For this reason also Maynard Ferguson, the legendary and famous American trumpeter wanted Tofanelli next to him in his Big Band for several years, and until Ferguson lived. Andrea is one of the most requested and talented trumpet players in the world, he boasts collaborations and projects with some of the most famous artists on the international scene, including Pop, not only Jazz and Classical. In addition to Tofanelli on Trumpet, the song boasts the participation of the eclectic Spanish saxophonist Ismael Dorado (Eric Marienthal, Michael Lington, Peter White, Paula Atherton, Adam Hawley, Paul Taylor, and many others), omnipresent
in musical formations and bands in his country, with whom Roberto had the opportunity to play during the Smooth Hot Jazz festival in Madrid in 2019. From Spain is also the excellent pianist and keyboardist Marco Rasa, who in this song accompanies the band on the electric piano. Rasa was part of Roberto's band during his tour in Spain, just before the pandemic, and has already participated in other productions of the artist. To complete the band a rhythm section that is now the hard core of Roberto's band, namely the Italian-Argentine drummer Estaban Rotunno (Luis Salinas, Toquino, and many others) and the Polish bassist Maciek Zsricinskii (active in the Polish music scene with the most famous artists national and international collaborations), together with a pulsating engine of rhythmics.