Simona Molinari
Croce e delizia

1. Italian jazz singers within the national borders do not count as much as they should, and they are placed on stages of other genres just to be noticed, with constraints that penalize them even further.

2. The majority of them come from a long struggle, a foundational factor for the first CD produced by Warner company, Croce e Delizia.

3. The “cross” is the fact that she did a good job here, and the delight is the prevailing pleasure in listening to her for an abundant half-hour. And I hope that someone [broad-minded] will take notice of what is proposed here.

4. Therefore, avoid comparing most of the tracks of Croce e Delizia to the commercial piece from a few years later with Peter Cincotti, empty and truly pathetic.

The album contains eight studio tracks, a somewhat bossa nova-morna duet with Ornella Vanoni which is quite good, and a live one in H.K. with accompanying horns, sufficiently digestible despite its length and a theme lacking in emotions... badly betrayed love.

Third CD for Molinari, with somewhat Tosca-like tones sprinkled with Mina and Cesaria Evora: the influence of the first of the three is notable in Portate gli uomini, a pleasant attempt of lyric folk supported by a backdrop of initial horns and fluegelhorns.

Various tracks also have a dixieland nature, but hover between pop and vocal jazz. Notably worthy is the pop-swing slightly reminiscent of Caro Emerald in Single per l'estate, but without too much interpretative recalculation. Maschere, Eclissi, the title track are sophisticated and vocally passionate, while Mettici più verve is at times repetitive and not at all enterprising in the lyrics, but with an apt 'catchiness.'

The collaboration with a well-known quartet of violins and cello Tutto il rumore del mondo has a light retro imprint [given the use of strings], offering us valuable moments of simple life that come and go, and that provide calm at the end of the CD, with a striking, fearsome voice.

The rating for the work, a full 6 years after its release, is therefore high.

Then... I conclude by saying to the users: Envy cannot cure blind hatred, but understanding will heal all inner blindness.

And speaking coherently, I will not appear for a long time in debt... starting tomorrow morning.

An owed action

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