NICOLA CONTE Vinilo y CD

Review: Long-established Italian producer Nicola Conte started working with jazz trombobist Gianluca Petrella back in 2017. In the years since, they've released a string of singles that fuse contemporary house sounds with the rhythms and musical styles of Africa. Here they present their collaborative debut album, People Need People, an effortlessly soulful affair that draws deeply on the pair's joint love of deep jazz-funk (see 'Hold On To Your Dreams') and the funk-fuelled goodness of Afrobeat ('Nigeria'). Throw in versions of those previously released singles (think 'African Spirits' and 'New World Shuffle' for starters), and you've got a highly entertaining full of high-quality musicianship and plenty of life-affirming melodic motifs.