Nicola Conte is an Italian musician known for his seductive mix of acid jazz and bossa nova.  latest release finds him performing groove-oriented spiritual jazz (think Lonnie Liston Smith or the Strata East label) in the company of African, European, and American musicians. With song titles like “Cosmic Peace,” “Mystic Revelation of the Gods,” “Space Dimensions,” and “Essence of the Sun,” you might expect the record to sound cosmic—and while the music does have a mystical vibe, it will also engage your lower chakras thanks to a rhythm section that includes, along with various percussionists, Tumi Mogorossi on drums and Luca Alemanno on bass. Saxophonists Logan Richardson and Magnus Lindgren, trombonist Gianluca Petrella, and trumpeter Theo Croker dish up lively horn charts and fiery solos. But it’s the singers—Bridgette Amofah, Carolina Bubbico, Zara McFarlane, and Zoe Modica—who really bring it home, soulfully delivering uplifting lyrics that unify rather than divide. Also inspiring: along with reissuing numerous titles, the relaunched MPS label has been releasing new music, and Let Your Light Shine On helps ensure their legacy will continue to grow. - The Absolute Sound 4/5 Sound

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The Italian guitarist and bandleader Nicola Conte has recorded his first album for the legendary, recently re-established MPS records. Conte has brought with him his cosmic ensemble of stars which includes trumpeter Theo Croker, saxophonists Logan Richardson and Magnus Lindgren, and singer Zara McFarlane. For the most part recorded in Bari, Italy and Johannesburg, South Africa, it is a sensitive work of art that crosses the border between soul and spiritual Afro-jazz. 

Musicians hate to have to pigeonhole their music. Nevertheless, Nicola Conte makes the attempt: “You could call it spiritual or cosmic Afro-jazz. I could also agree with calling it Afro-soul.” For his new album, “Let Your Light Shine On”, this Italian DJ, producer, guitarist, and bandleader has casually interwoven soul and grooves pulsing with the beat and breath of Africa. In so doing, Conte combines elements that seemingly do not belong together. This innovative jazz revivalist has always been open to sounds of every sort and color. 

Born in 1964, Conte formed the artist collective Fez in the early ‘90’s in his native city of Bari, produced jazz and modern electronic-oriented Bossa Nova, and recorded film music. Conte’s eighth album conveys his interest in spiritual deceleration (“We should not be hemmed in by materialism. We need new perspectives!”). At the same time, his music has a political slant. “I’m interested in the Afrocentric approach that such artists as John Coltrane, and such labels as Strata-East carried forward in the sixties and seventies,” this obsessed record collector enthused. “People dealt with the problems of that time. This may well have greater relevance today than ever before – many problems have only gotten worse.”