| Jazz |
Summary: Out of Gravity by Michele Pappadia is a bold jazz fusion album mixing funk, Afro-American roots, and international musicianship.
Out of Gravity by Michele Pappadia , A Jazz Fusion Masterpiece Blending Funk and Global Sounds
At the end of this month, the independent label A.MA Records will release an album that resists easy categorization – a vibrant and intricately constructed work situated at the crossroads of funk and jazz fusion. Led by keyboardist Michele Pappadia, the project brings together an international cast of musicians for a recording that balances rhythmic vitality with compositional sophistication.
Spanning influences from the 1970s to the present, the album unfolds as a layered dialogue between musical eras and traditions. Its foundations are deeply rooted in Afro-American musical forms, which shape the rhythmic and structural framework of the compositions. At the same time, European sensibilities surface in the melodic writing, lending the music a distinct tonal identity. The result is neither pastiche nor homage, but a fluid synthesis that feels both grounded and exploratory.
At the center of the project is a core quintet drawn from the upper ranks of contemporary Italian jazz: Fabrizio Bosso, Francesco Bearzatti, Francesco Ponticelli and Stefano Tamborrino. Their interplay provides the album with both precision and elasticity. Around this nucleus, Pappadia expands the sonic palette with a diverse group of collaborators, including Washington-based vocalist and improviser Kokayi, Deshawn Alexander of Watermelon Funk, singer Angela Esmeralda, and Malian percussionist Kalifa Koné, whose work on congas and ngoni introduces a resonant, organic dimension.
This transcontinental ensemble embodies the collaborative ethos that defines the album. Each track is carefully constructed, yet never rigid, allowing space for individual expression within a cohesive framework. Out of Gravity can be heard as a reflection on the legacy of Black music, not as a fixed reference point, but as a living, evolving language. The performances themselves emphasize collective energy over individual display, favoring interaction, tension, and release.
Pappadia’s command of these traditions is informed by a long history of collaboration with musicians such as Gianluca Petrella, Bobby Previte, Lars Danielsson, Manu Katché, Joe Bonamassa, Brian Auger, Eric Gales, Robben Ford and Kirk Fletcher. These experiences have shaped his musical vocabulary, though his writing remains immediately identifiable. Elements of baroque arrangement occasionally surface in the instrumentation, while certain passages evoke a cinematic atmosphere reminiscent of Goblin, the Italian ensemble known for scoring films by Dario Argento.
What ultimately emerges is not the product of a single cultural lineage, but the result of careful synthesis – multiple influences absorbed, examined, and reconfigured into a distinct artistic voice.
This is not an album designed for passive listening. Its structural complexity and shifting rhythmic frameworks may initially disorient some listeners. Yet that very density is also its strength. With each listen, new details come into focus: interwoven rhythmic patterns, subtle harmonic movements, and a continuous interplay between instruments that suggests an ongoing conversation rather than a fixed statement.
In that sense, Out of Gravity reveals itself gradually. It invites patience, attention, and return. Like an open book that resists closure, it does not deliver immediate answers. Instead, it poses questions, and leaves them suspended, waiting to be explored in the listener’s next encounter.
Thierry De Clemensat
Member at Jazz Journalists Association
USA correspondent for Paris-Move and ABS magazine
Editor in chief – Bayou Blue Radio, Bayou Blue News
PARIS-MOVE, April 23rd 2026
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Musicians:
Michele Papadia – Piano – Rhodes Electric Piano – Wurlitzer – Hammond Organ – Synth
Fabrizio Bosso – Trumpet – Effects
Francesco Bearzatti – Tenor Saxophone
Francesco Ponticelli – Electric Bass
Stefano Tamborrino – Drums
Kokayi – Vocals (Track 1)
Mia Cooper Vocals (Tracks 7,8,10)
Deshawn D’Vibes Alexander Vocals (Track 6)
Angela Esmeralda Vocals (Tracks 2,4,6)
Kalifa Kone – Ngoni – Congas (Tracks 2,5)
Tracklisting:
Out Of Gravity
Afrolution
Miss Arrow
Balanced Entropy
A New Beginning
Flowing Soul
Freedom To Live
Peace Of Mind
In My Soul
Freedom To Pray
All Music composed by Michele Papadia ©&℗ A.MA Edizioni
Track 1: lyrics by Kokayi
Track 4: lyrics by angela Esmeralda
Track 6: lyrics by Alexander Deshawn
Track 7: lyrics by Mia Cooper
Recorded at Cicaleto Studio Recording, Arezzo, Italy
Mixed and Mastered by Francesco Ponticelli