Saved
Alfie Zappacosta
Alma Records ACD20512 (shopalmarecords.com)
Colourful, compelling, award-winning, platinum-selling Canadian artist Alfie Zappacosta is back with an energetic, vibrant collection of nine stylistically diverse original tracks in this, his 16th album. Zappacosta successfully takes on the positions of songwriter, singer, arranger and producer here to create a memorable mix of jazz, pop, rock and ballads. He is joined by many of his longtime songwriting and musical collaborators including Gerry Mosby, Marco Luciani, Andrew Glover, Silvio Pupo and Louis Sedmak.
Zappacosta’s decades-long career, with all its personal and professional ups and downs, has provided him the tools to explore, compose and develop his musical style in his own way, and as he explains, now without record label direction. The entire release is a gratifying musical surprise. Unspoken is a colourful romantic ballad highlighted by Bob Tildesley’s muted trumpet echoing his rich vocal line. The upbeat title track showcases Zappacosta’s distinctive rich vocal range, precise pitch placement and clear articulation of the lyrics, with enthusiastic backing female vocals and techno-flavoured instrumentals. Had Enough opens with an intense banging drum solo followed by a danceable pop/jazzy tune driven by Zappacosta’s low-pitched vocals and bouncy instrumentals. Here in My Heart, flavoured by Romantic-style symphonic music and co-written with Pupo, is very emotional, highlighted by a singalong love chorus.
Zappacosta and his team’s charismatic, passionate performances are perfectly reco-rded, produced and “Saved.” It’s so much fun to listen to, brightening up these pandemic times with musical energy! Simply said, this is music for everyone!!
