"Bud Powell’s music has been my constant obsession for the last couple of years. I’ve been constantly learning new tunes from so many different records of Bud. The early Bud, the late Bud, every version of Bud you can think of has so much depth into the music. So far, studying, transcribing and analysing Bud’s music it has been one of the most interesting and deep learning process of my life. 

Through Bud Powell’s albums you can hear perfection in what Bud was trying to reach, I’d say in the same way you can do with Charlie Parker. The Genius Of Bud Powell, couldn’t be more right than that. 

This EP, “To Bud.”, it’s just a small tribute I’d like to dedicate to my hero of all time.  The tunes I’ve chosen to record in this album are the ones that have definitely hit me on a deep level the most. I hope you can also appreciate my attempt to replicate Bud’s piano chords on my guitar, it’s still a work in progress, I’ll get there eventually.

I hope you can feel my honest love for Bud Powell’s music and life with this EP".

ARTIST PROFILE

So Andrea…tell us where your musical journey began. What sparked your love for music?

So, my musical journey began when I was 2 or 3 when a friend of my parents bought me a kid drum set for Christmas. Imagine how happy my parents where at the time. Even though I can’t remember any of it, I think it influenced my appreciation for music in the future. In fact since I was a kid I’ve always been able to tap the rhythm of melodies without any effort. The drum thing though probably vanished pretty quickly, as I don’t ever recall playing it, but I’ve only seen pictures of me playing it. When I was around 13 I saw my mums Spanish guitar in the living room at it caught my attention so I started to try to fake to play it, as a very stupid 13 year old kid would do. When I was 16 music hit me on a more serious way. I started picking up the same Spanish guitar and I was trying to figure things out on it. I guess the first thing I figured out was “Smoke on the Water” by Deep Purple, classic. The following years I was very obsessed with the guitar and I recall spending at least 8/12 hours a day on the instrument working mainly on technique as my favourite genre then was heavy metal. The Jazz bug got me pretty “late” in my life in fact I started listening and playing Jazz when I was 20 because of one of my teacher who showed me a record by the great guitarist Wes Montgomery, “The Incredible Jazz Guitar of Wes Montgomery”. That time I had a complete epiphany and then I decided that all I wanted to do in the rest of my life was jazz. 7 years after that moment all I’m doing is Jazz! 

 2. Who would you say has been your biggest musical influence and which artist would like to work with in the future?

Some of my all time biggest musical influences have been some of the most historic and iconic legends of jazz such as: Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Bud Powell, Barry Harris, Sonny Rollins, Sonny Stitt, Elmo Hope, Thelonious Monk, Lester Young and many others. The reason why I’ve mentioned so many artists is because I do really believe that these names have influenced my playing on a very deep level as I’ve transcribed lots of music and solos by them. As for artists in the future to want to work with, well, I’d love to work with: Grant Stewart, Luigi Grasso, Pasquale Grasso, Wynton Marsalis, Veronica Swift and Ashley Pezzotti.

3. I can imagine that when creating and releasing music, you must face certain challenges and hurdles along the way. What are some of the problems you have faced, especially given the current circumstances with the Coronavirus pandemic?

Well, specially when releasing music I feel very stressed about it without any external factors. Mostly because I want that things run smoothly when recording, when editing and finally when releasing. Covid didn’t help one bit because on top of all of that there would have been another worry which was to not catch the virus and mostly to have enough money to fund my project! 

 4. How would you best describe your sound?

That’s a hard one.. Well to start with what do you mean by sound? Do you mean the actual sound of my guitar or my sound as whole, for example how I play? Well I can’t really tell describe how I play so I’ll leave that to the listeners but I can try to explain what I look for in my sound of the instrument. 

The thing I look for in my sound is clarity, you have to be able to hear a chord and being able to separate each note, like a piano almost. Then I look for warmth in tone so it gives that old sound Last thing is how it blends in with the rest of the band, depending also on the room where we play in. 

5. What's your proudest moment to date
so far as an artist?

Proudest moment to date is the release of this first album with MY trio. I wrote my in capitals because it took me a long time to find the right people for it. For me the recording and releasing of an album is a big exposure for an artist and sometimes I struggle to do that.

6. Do you have any advice for young musicians just starting out? 

YES! There’s actually a million things I would suggest to a young musician based on all the mistakes I’ve made but I think that mistakes exists for a reason and the reason is so you can learn from them! So these are the 3 main things I would suggest: Play, Learn and be Honest! Play with people as much as you can, learn from the recordings and try to be as honest as you can with yourself.