S-Tone Inc - Body & Soul (Schema Records, 2020)
S-Tone Inc. has been for over ten years the primary music project of Stefano Tirone, musician from Milan, whose first music experiences date back to the early 80’s.
The influence of the British acid jazz scene of the early 90’s and his deep love for the 70’s soul and jazz music are the foundations of the S-Tone Inc. project, that starts in 1992 with the track Get Freaky Now, the received great appreciation in the UK and represents one of the earliest examples of made in Italy acid jazz music.
His debut album was released in 1996 on the Milano 2000/Ishtar label under the title Love Unlimited and contains the track Ainda Sonhar, a composition that as the forerunner of the nu bossa genre and that got included into tens of compilations all over the world.
In 1997 he releases under the name Cosmorama a monothematic drum and bass project entitled “Space Odyssey”. Mainly through the third album under the name S-Tone Inc., released in 2002 on Schema/Ishtar and entitled Sobrenatural, he refines his style, made of Brazilian, soul and jazz influences, without forgetting the experiences that he’d made with various Italian and British DJ’s in the house music scene.
He worked with Italian and British labels, such as Schema, Irma, Acid Jazz, Centrestage. In 2004, he produced Toco, a Brazilian artist, with the aim to revive the bossa nova tradition of the 60’ with an updated taste.
Both Sobrenatural and Instalação Do Samba by Toco were released in France on the label Bonsaï Music. During 2004, he produced his new album Luz Y Sombra with the participation of various musicians from the Milan jazz scene and Brazil, with the intention to take a more acoustic direction than he had in the past, making a more discreet and minimal use of electronic.
New Album “Body And Soul”.
“Body & Soul” marks Stefano Tirone aka S-Tone Inc.’s return, three years after “Onda”, a work dense of soul / disco / funk hints from the late ‘70s, a historical period that Stefano fully experienced and that inevitably left deep traces in his way of creating music. This sound has also inspired the two unreleased tracks included in the “Try My Love / Odoya” 45rpm, released in 2019, and is developed even further in this new full-length.
As usual “Body & Soul” welcomes the presence of several guest artists, starting from Stefano’s long-time friend and collaborator Toco, here singing in four songs; he is also accompanied by a vocal trio that carries the listener into a world where Brazilian melodies blend with typical ‘70s disco rhythms.
Laura Fedele is in the game again too: in “In the Name of Love” she elegantly dresses a jazz-funk piece characterized by Carlo Nicita’s flute, reminiscent of the famous Mizell Brothers. Laura also participates in the title track, a true manifesto of the album characterized by a funky bass line and by the space-disco atmosphere of the voices and the Wurlitzer.
Among the new collaborations we have Afra Kane, a Nigerian singer who has lived in Italy, England and Switzerland, who gives a peculiar black shade to the album songs with her splendid voice, and Donatinho, son of the legendary João Donato, playing Rhodes and Moog and gracing Stefano’s music with his refned touch. “Midnight Sun”, a cinematic-flavoured instrumental track that pays homage to The Maestro Ennio Morricone, who passed away in July 2020, closes a beautiful record captivating and precious in every note.
NMR (photo: press Dub Inc)
