Sulla Rotta dei Venti

North East Ska Jazz Orchestra are back with a powerhouse album to celebrate their tenth anniversary. Taking listeners on a journey from Mediterranean Europe to Jamaica via the Balkans and North Africa, Sulla Rotta dei Venti is packed with variation and summer vibes. Boasting bold brass hooks, floor-filling bass and beats, jazzy sax and keys, skank-inducing ska/reggae rhythms, groovy guitar and intoxicating accordion, the Italian 16-piece is on top form with album number four. The record kicks off with a hip-shaking beat before dropping into infectious call-and-response brass and accordion. Not shy of the top line or affording one another space to shine, opener ‘Piazza Della Libertà’ sets the tone with its sublime hooks and solos. A mid-album highlight is ‘Donna Di Chi’, which kicks off big band brass style and drops into the silky vocals of Rosa Mussin over uptempo ska before treating us to an expert jazz guitar solo. ‘Nimi Muzima’ is another highlight. It starts with ethereal vocals, layered and delayed dreamily, before Fat Freddy’s Drop-style instrumentation and a spellbinding flute solo take listeners to new heights. This album is a whole lotta fun and wonderfully uplifting. What’s not to like?