Product Description

Consider him the Anti-Hanson. Paolo Conte's music is guaranteed not to appeal to anyone under the legal drinking age, and that's probably as it should be. This collection of tunesby the Italian singer/songwriter is full of the kind of passion and thoughtfulness that can only come from a long life fully lived. At the age of sixty, Conte, though he'd been known in Europe as a songwriter since the '60s and as a performer since the '70s, was virtually unknown in America, with most of his catalogue available only on import. One listen tothis domestic compilation should convert American ears.
Conte can be pigeon-holed any number of ways; the Italian Leonard Cohen, Asti's Serge Gainsbourg, Jacques Brel ala Roma.While all these comparisons are apt, Conte's sound is uniquely his own. He combines traditional Italian styles with international influences (French, German, Argentinian) as well as American genres (blues, jazz, dixieland, boogie-woogie), weaving it all together to support his dark, emotive lyricism. Incidentally, the Surgeon General would like you to know that extended doses of Paolo Conte can lead to chain-smoking, whiskey drinking and nocturnal brooding in dimly-lit cafes.

Track Listing

1. Elisir
2. Sotto Le Stelle Del Jazz
3. Via Con Me
4. Boogie
5. Sparring Partner
6. Come Di
7. Azzurro
8. Gelato Al Limon
9. Happy Feet
10. Gli Impermeabili
11. Max
12. Gong-Oh
13. Colleghi Trascurati
14. Bartali
15. Alle Prese Con Una Verde Milonga
16. Dragon
17. Hemingway
18. Ho Ballato Di Tutto
19. Quadrille
20. Genova Per Noi

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #22332 in Music
• Released on: 1999-07-12
• Number of discs: 1

Amazon.co.uk Review
From the peaceful north Italian town of Asti, Conte pens all of his own material, smokily growling as he hops from asymmetrical narrative to jaunty rhyming couplets. This bumper 20-track retrospective embraces most of his special interests, sometimes involving specific topics, as with "Gelato Al Limon" and "Hemingway" (the latter boasting surely the most sensitive kazoo solo ever). Driven by Conte's marching piano, his constant bandstand companions play for the dancers, intent on recreating a kind of mocking town hall pomposity, all the better to capture a peculiar flavour of pert 1920s jollity. Conte can be described as a sophisticated primitivist, his words reading like minimalist poetry, suggesting intangible images with sparse strokes. He details bittersweet, fatalistic tales of wind-lashed, street-corner romance, usually infused with a love-hate longing for vanished youth. The mixture of 80s and 90s numbers reveals a marked consistency of style, from the apparent simplicity of "Max" to the odd dying-80s production of "Dragon", so irritatingly compulsive. "Under The Stars Of Jazz" hisses with sibilant scatting, Conte performing an impromptu trombone impersonation, then, he'll up the tempo for the half-ridiculous theatrical romp of "Quadrille". This is a set to savour, constantly unearthing hidden depths. --Martin Longley

Customer Reviews

Sublime!
There's not a single duff note on this CD- even though Conte's 50 a day and a bottle of Pernod voice sounds like there ought to be.

This recording is absolutely wonderful, and that's not just my view even my Eminem loving teenage kids were smiling and singing along to Happy Feet! We played this endlessly in the car on out holiday to Fance and Spain, and frankly it made the holiday.

Marvellously relaxing- totally sublime.

s'wonnerful!
I first heard Paolo Conte in the French film 5x2 and thought 'Sparring Partner' was superb. I bought the soundtrack & only then found the name of this wonderful performer. Further investigation on the internet led me to this CD. On 1st listening I thought' this is good!' On every subsequent hearing I'm blown away. Tracks that I initially thought were ok are great. In fact there's not one track I don't like. I love the mix of boogie/ jazz/ torch song/ & the sheer exuberance of the performance. But towering above them all for me is the sublime 'Max'. To think I might have missed this gem and this artist is just too scary to contemplate. Buy it & love it!

Cool dude
Signor Conte may be many things, but nobody could deny him a unique niche in musical history. Sure, many tracks here have parallels with other artists, but the grizzled chain-smoking Italian geezer is truly a revelation at times, displaying a crisp, assured and playful piano style while singing anywhere between a sunn-drenched moan and a late-night growl. You can see where the comparisons with Tom Waits came from, but I hear echoes of Jacques Brel and Georges Braessens too.

At his best, he flirts between a noirish cabaret chanteur and a hip jazzy swinger with aplomb. In fact, he shows genius at weaving in a kaleidoscope of twinkling nods within a wide musical palette, including styles now in revival (tangos and quadrilles, for example) - derivitive without ever sounding less than original and unique. Think of a cool dude with every hint of fashionability extracted. He is what he is and feels as comfortable as an old pair of jeans.

At worst, he veers towards the dreaded easy listening turf - no surprise then that Terry Wogan "discovered" the artist for British audiences. Conte's class and sheer exuberance should help him to establish a wider following than the unfortunate Radio 2 label he's been saddled with.