Funk That Jazz Mimmo Langella feat. Scott Henderson

• 1 Follow Me Now 05:07
• 2 Scò 06:05
• 3 Up Two 05:57
• 4 The Gig - Una razza 04:09
• 5 The Harmony of the Soul 06:50
• 6 In the Air 05:08
• 7 Come On 04:04
• 8 Jean Paul 07:04
• Total Runtime 44:24

Info for Funk That Jazz

Simone Salvatore writes in the liner notes about Mimmo Langella's 2008 CD 'Funk That Jazz', 'Langella continues the musical journey begun some years ago with the record 'The Other Side'. The jazz/blues influences absorbed after all these years merge naturally into a fine blend of styles on the rhythmic territory of black music roots (with pleasant hints of modern electro-lounge trends), colored with 'retro' timbres so warm and 'alive' that, when the listener closes their eyes, they seem to be there in the studio during the recording sessions. The bandleader shows great maturity in conducting the combo, accommodating his partners and relegating his fine guitar technique in the service of his music. The music of Langella is once again personal, fresh and melodically engaging; the phrases of the neapolitan guitarist are articulated in the rhythm that has the naturalness of one.' 'Funk That Jazz' features guest guitarist Scott Henderson on 'Up Two' and 'The Harmony Of The Soul'.

Mimmo Langella, guitar
Scott Henderson, guitar (on tracks 3, 5)
Antonio Fresa, keyboards
Guido Russo, bass
Pasquale De Paola, drums
Marcello Coleman, vocals
Giovanni Imparato, vocals, congas

Mimmo Langella
neapolitan guitarist and composer, started to play guitar at age 12. His study experiences include the "Professional Guitar Player Program" of the Guitar Institute of Technology (G.I.T.) of Hollywood where he graduated with honors in 1994, the "Master's Degree in Jazz Music" of the "S. Pietro a Majella" Conservatory of Naples where he graduated with honors in 2009 and the "Master's Degree in Jazz Guitar" of the "D. Cimarosa" Conservatory of Avellino where he graduated with full marks in 2015.

He has six solo records to his credit, "The Other Side" (Smoothnotes 2002), "Funk That Jazz" (Smoothnotes 2008) featuring Scott Henderson, "Soul Town" (Smoothnotes, 2012), "A Kind of Sound" (GBMUSIC, 2018), "Wonderful Life" (GBMUSIC, 2021) and "HAVEN" (GBMUSIC, 2024), and two singles, "Jonathan il gabbiano" published on the "Sotto Tiro" compilation (Southern Groove Records, 1996; Smoothnotes, 2012) and "Dancing on the Rooftop" published on the "Montecarlo Night, Vol. 3" compilation (Soulgem Records, 2023).

He played in various jazz festivals; as sideman he worked in the orchestra of the "Dopofestival di Sanremo 1998" (RAIUNO), the "Festival di Napoli" 2001 and 2003 editions (RETEQUATTRO), "Ciao 2000" (RAIDUE) and "Io non t'ho mai chiesto niente" (CANALE 5) television shows and in the orchestra of the "Festa di Piedigrotta" 2008 edition; he played in the festival "Ciao 2000" the New Year's Day in Naples taken by RAIUNO with Nino D'Angelo and Lucio Dalla. Besides that he took part in "Scherzi a parte" (ITALIA 1) and played at the ninth edition of the "Premio Città di Recanati" taken by RAIDUE, he also played in the "Taratatà" (RAIUNO), "La vita in diretta" (RAIUNO), "Serata con..." (VIDEOITALIA) and in the 32th edition of "Napoli prima e dopo" (RAIUNO) television shows.

As session man he played on the "Aitanic" soundtrack (Sony Music, 2000), on the CD "Fratelli d'Itano - Nuie Simme Tresc" (R.T.I. Music, 1998), on the Marcello Coleman CDs "Rena Nera" (Living Arts, 1999) and "Naif" (Oiné, 2005) that he produced too. He also played on the Vito Ranucci CDs "Killing The Classics" (CNI, 2013), "Napoli Inferno & Paradiso" (CNI, 2019) and "Killing The Classics Vol. 2" (CNI, 2021), on the Nino D'Angelo DVD and CD "Concerto anni 80... e non solo" (Di.Elle.O., 2015), on the Nino D'Angelo DVD "Concerto 6.0" (Universal Music, 2017) and on the "Sound of Qatar" album (CNI, 2022).

His tune "Green Tuesday", the opening track of "Soul Town" album, is included in the soundtrack of the RAIUNO fiction "Baciato dal sole". He participated in "Core Pazzo", a theater show with Nino D'Angelo directed by Laura Angiulli shown in the first national night at the Mercadante Theater of Naples in December 1996. He wrote the music for "Tintura di Iodice", a Peppe Iodice theater show written by C. Taranto and shown in the first national night at the Sannazaro Theater of Naples in March 1998, and conducted the orchestra and wrote the music for "Semprinzieme", another Peppe Iodice theater show written by Peppe Iodice, Nello Iorio and Lello Marangio and shown in the first national night at the Acacia Theater of Naples in February 2008.

Very active in the educational field, from 2017 to 2021 he was professor of "Pop-Rock Guitar" at the "N. Sala" Conservatory of Music in Benevento and from 2022 he is the holder of the chair of "Pop-Rock Guitar" at the "G. Martucci" Conservatory of Music in Salerno. He has written two books: "Pentatonic Pyromania - Tecnica e Fraseggio per Chitarra Pop-Rock, Jazz e Fusion" (Fingerpicking.net, 2019) and "Ear Training per Chitarra e non solo!" (Fingerpicking.net, 2022). He was an "AXE" magazine contributor and columnist from 1995 to 2017.

This album contains no booklet.