The Link Quartet Quattro Pezzi Facili (Black Vinyl)

(The Link Quartet created "Quattro Pezzi Facili" with Silvia Molinari, an experienced singer with an incredible emotional charge. In search of the perfect balance between a signature instrumental energy and the intrinsic talent of Molinari, the group was inspired to reinvent foreign songs in Italian. The discovery of unreleased 60s scores allowed the group to explore and play with the sounds of that era but with an ear free to create something without precedent. Paolo Apollo Negri, Renzo Bassi, and Alberto Maffi created modern arrangements while Marco Murtas and Molinari interpreted the lyrics. The results are the imagings of Love Buzz (Shocking Blue), I’m A Woman (Shocking Blue), and Back Up Against The Wall (Blood Sweat And Tears). Completing the collection is a reinvention of the Ombretta Colli 1969 take of Harley Davidson (Serge Gainsbourg)The Link Quartet created "Quattro Pezzi Facili" with Silvia Molinari, an experienced singer with an incredible emotional charge. In search of the perfect balance between a signature instrumental energy and the intrinsic talent of Molinari, the group was inspired to reinvent foreign songs in Italian. The discovery of unreleased 60s scores allowed the group to explore and play with the sounds of that era but with an ear free to create something without precedent. Paolo Apollo Negri, Renzo Bassi, and Alberto Maffi created modern arrangements while Marco Murtas and Molinari interpreted the lyrics. The results are the imagings of Love Buzz (Shocking Blue), I’m A Woman (Shocking Blue), and Back Up Against The Wall (Blood Sweat And Tears). Completing the collection is a reinvention of the Ombretta Colli 1969 take of Harley Davidson (Serge Gainsbourg).

Active since 1993, the Link Quartet has established itself internationally as a benchmark for the Hammond sound thanks to an explosive mixture of funk, rock and soul played in a unique, modern and original way. The band, who always combines its studio efforts with an intense series of shows around the world, has got prestigious stages as the GO! Lleida ’60 Festival in Spain, the 100 Club in London, the Our Way of Thinking of Chicago, Club Au-Go-Go in Los Angeles, the Sziget Festival in Budapest, the Hammond Explosion in Paris, sharing the stage with the likes of Manu Chao, Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings, Charles Bradley, James Taylor Quartet, Brian Auger’s Oblivion Express, Downliners Sect, Chocolate Watch Band and Bonniwell Music Machine. The collaboration with prestigious labels such as Acid Jazz (UK), Record Kicks (ITA), Hammondbeat (USA), Soundflat (GER), P-Vine (JPN) Area Pirata (ITA) and many other allowed the Link Quartet to work with numerous Italian and foreign artists, continually reinventing their sound, with an eye to the future and one tightly pegged to the long and distinguished tradition of the Hammond organ.

TRACKLIST:
A1 – Tutto Ciò Mi Basta (Love Buzz)
A2 – La Strada (Back Up Against The Wall)
B1 – Sono Chi Vuoi (I’m A Woman)
B2 – La Moto (Harley Davidson)

LINE UP:

Paolo Apollo Negri: Hammond / EMW synthesizer
Renzo Bassi: bass
Marco "Majo" Murtas: guitar
Alberto "Pato" Maffi: drums
Silvia Molinari: vocals

INTERVIEW

Scott – 50thirdand3rd
13/04/2016

In my never ending quest to bring the coolest music from around the globe to all of you , I am constantly looking for Record Labels that center around bands that I think we all need to know more about. Today that search has led us to Area Pirata Rec . I think that you will find that Area Pirata Rec has a pretty cool roster . From Garage to Punk and a whole lot in-between Area Pirata Rec puts out some killer jams. First up is… The Link Quartet

Meet – The Link Quartet

for those unfamiliar with your bands history, can you tell us all how you all met up and decided to start a band ?

– The Link Quartet has been founded in 1993, the actual line up (Paolo Apollo Negri: Hammond, Renzo Bassi: bass, Alberto Maffi: drums and Marco Murtas: guitar) is working together since 2009 and with this combo we have recorded two albums and three singles. We met Silvia Molinari (singer) a couple of years ago and we decided to develop a unique project to bring her and her incredible voice into the band. We built our reputation around a blend of instrumental Hammond driven funk/rock but we wanted something special for her…so we decied to re-write some sixties songs and give them a new look, adding lyrics in italian which is something completely new and untried for us!

who would you list as your musical influence?

– The band sound is inspired by the great names of the Hammond organ such as Jack McDuff, Charles Kynard, Brian Auger, Jimmy McGriff mixed with funk (The Meters, The Mohawks, The Counts, etc) and blended with sixties influences (Spencer Davis Group, Santa Barbara Machine Head, Ugly Custard, etc). The cool thing is that even if we dig deep in the past we have developed a completely modern sound! whats the coolest thing that’s happened to you as a band since you started up?

We have had the occasion to meet and play with some of our heros like Brian Auger, Bonniwell Music Machine, Charles Bradley, Sharon Jones and The Dap-Kings and many other…and we had the chance to play all over the world as well!

what are your hopes and dreams as a band for the next few years.

We’re working on a new instrumental album so we hope it will be well received and bring some more opportunity to travel around and play our music

what are some of your favorite albums from the past few years?

– Most of them are not related with our kind of music, such as "Mutations" by Beck, "Peasants, Pigs and Astronuats" by Kula Shaker, "El Camino" by The Black Keys but we also dig Medesky, Martin and Wood, Mother Earth, Corduroy and many others!

Do you see any real use for social media , or is it all just a pain in the ass to keep with?

– They give great opportunity ofr keeping in touch with people, promoters and fans, and they’re great for promoting what you’re doing. Good or bad depends on how you use them!

Do you pay attention to reviews or comments from people about your music or do you just turn that noise off.

– We always pay attention to critics from people, reviewers and fans even if we don’t always agree…and then we come back to the studio and always do the same mistakes, ahahah, we’re slow learners!

If you could tour anywhere in the world , where would you want to go.

– Japan! We’ve never been there even if we released two albums for P-Vine and we were planning a tour some years ago.

Can music save the mortal soul or is just a good backbeat to your life.

– We live in small and sleepy towns in the country, we all have seen lot of people literally "saved" by music here around! Don’t know if it can save mortal souls but it surely help to make them feel better!

Any last thoughts for your fans….

– Thank you for this interview, we hope to meet you all at some show somewhere, somewhen!