Gypsy Wanderlust

"Artists, explorers or simply dreamers have continually been inspired by the literary influence of Jule Verne's Around The World In 80 Days, untiringly challenging themselves in similar and faster ventures. From east to west or west to east, across the seas, across the lands, through the air and... culminating into music."

The jazz quartet Alma Swing (Mattia Martorano – violin, Lino Brotto – lead guitar, Andrea Boschetti – rhythm guitar and Beppe Pilotto – double bass) is currently considered one of the best Italian expressions of typical European Jazz from the thirties and fourties, combining Hot Swing, manouche gypsy culture, Parisian popular traditions and the Afro-American swing-craze. 
Separate from the American historical jazz influence, Alma Swing has its roots in Django Reinhardt's string jazz and Stéphane Grappelli's brilliance, approching this music with individual flare, renovating the repertory whilst constantly crossing over between jazz and gypsy flavour.
Presenting the old-style silhouette and a traditional acoustic line-up (where the manouche guitars and the violin play the main roles) Alma Swing echoes the vinyl and grammophone era whose success is still celebrated thoughout the world today. After their first release dedicated to Django Reinhardt (Rythme Futur) and a second of well known popular Italian songs remade in a hot jazz style (Django En Italie), the ensemble now presents a new album drawing from Parisian Hot Jazz and evermore distant flavours. Gypsy Wanderlust proposes indeed original compositions inspired by the literary imagery of Around The World In 80 Days as in Evasione e Fuga in Re Minore, Hong Kong Alley Cat, Tanguera, Waiting Room Harlem Station. The album also features the honoured participation of the iconic jazz guitarist Fanco Cerri in two standards Bluesette and Nuages.