This album, created amidst the dark period of world pandemic, is a wonderful proof of the fact that music not only heals but also keeps as sane. It is now a year since many of us hardly managed to leave our homes and ware almost completely cut off from what we, the human species and especially those of the Mediterranean origin, need the most: contact with our kind, a smile, a warm embrace, a feeling of togetherness.
Cut off from contact with other people we always turn inwards, into our dreams and memories. It is therefore hardly surprising that Bob Salmieri sought inspiration for this music in his childhood, re-imagining some characters from a spectacle he saw as a child. This idea resulted in a string of wonderfully coherent melodic themes, which are full of romance, lyricism and reflection. For many listeners this music will sound very Bluesy, but to be honest the Mediterranean Culture has had its own Blues for Centuries, in many different shapes and forms: Rebetiko, Neapolitan, Flamenco, Jewish and Arabic music are full of intrinsic “Blues” atmosphere.
The change of instrumentation, especially the addition of organ, trumpet and vibraphone (a cooperation with a young Polish musician Mateusz Nawrot, who guests on three tracks), caused a crystallization of Salmieri’s style, achieving perhaps the most convincing form of what he calls Mediterranean Jazz. The music has a superb natural flow and vitality, which simply makes the listener wish to hear more. Moving between reflective, melancholic and even sad moments and energetic, lively and obviously happy ones, this music is like life itself, constantly moving between sweet and bitter.
Adam Baruch, February 2021 - www.adambaruch.com