Free Souls-Shades of Joy

Nicola Conte founded the loose-knit 'Fez collective' in the early 1990's, centered in Bari, Italy. It's members were a small circle of friends, musicians and jazz enthusiasts of the fifties and sixties, deep "nouvelle vague" connoisseurs, compulsive vinyl collectors, design and graphic experts, people crazy for cultural beat and books written by past cultural revolutionaries. He not only masterminded the Schema label but also his own recording career, scoring an underground hit with first single "Bossa Per Due". This 7" single's two new gems anticipate the upcoming release of the fifth studio album by Nicola Conte: The "A" side "Free Souls" - a superb Rhythm and Blues tune written by Nicola and featuring vocalist Bridgette Amofah; the "B" side "Shades of Joy" is pure soul jazz music with vocalist Marvin Parks softly embracing the melody and the Gregory Porter-penned lyric.