Simona Molinari
Dr.Jekyll Mr.Hyde

Having drawn attention at the last Sanremo festival more for her undeniable beauty (unfortunately not highlighted by the unattractive cover of her latest work), the jazz musician from L'Aquila, Simona Molinari, returns to the music scene two years after "Tua" with "Dr. Jekyll Mr. Hyde," an album that confirms her as both one of the best Italian voices currently around and one of the few truly valid singer-songwriters enjoying significant media visibility. Visibility that, indeed, she hasn't earned through her beauty or through any terrible gossip (unlike a certain Anna Tatangelo...), but instead through consistently well-made and well-written music, and this latest effort is no exception.

Split by a dual personality, suggested also by the clever title, "Dr. Jekyll Mr. Hyde" is an album which skillfully ranges between traditional jazz sounds and the more unusual and fresh tones of electro-swing. In the latter genre fall pieces such as the pleasantly radio-friendly single "La Felicità" and "Non so Dirti di No (A Long Way from Home)," both enriched by the voice and piano of the talented Peter Cincotti, "Gran Balon," which features the Turin-based group The Sweet Life Society, as well as an unexpected yet welcome collaboration with Gilberto Gil in "Sampa Milano" and the very successful "Il Mulo," which, with its invective against prejudices and unfounded viewpoints, also highlights Simona's writing quality, showing her ability to write both carefree and frivolous lyrics as well as ones of a certain depth without ever falling into banality. However, in the end, the tracks where she gives her best are those that most draw from her background as a traditional jazzist, well audible in the album "Croce e Delizia": notably successful are, for example, the sinuous "Where the Clouds Go" and "Mentimi," the smoky "Come Vento," and the excellent blues of the title track (also sung and played with Cincotti), written by the recently deceased Lelio Luttazzi. He also penned the touching "Buonanotte Rossana," a poignant piano-voice ballad that, together with the excellent cover of "A Rose Among Thorns," well highlights Molinari's vocal and interpretative abilities.

"Dr Jekyll Mr. Hyde" is in short an excellent return to the music scene for an artist who once again proves capable of offering the public easily listenable yet quality music and, notably, of wisely choosing collaborators and songs to interpret. Also commendable is her intention to continue on a musical path, that of electro-swing, little explored in Italy and therefore risky to pursue, especially concerning the more purely commercial side of her profession (because one must always remember that being a singer is a job and if one wants to live off music, the sales of one's albums are not to be neglected), although she doesn't seem too concerned about this. In short, for once in Italy behind the beauty, there's also the artist, and a talented one at that.