Watch Andrea Rinciari as the guitarist prepares to release his new album and tour the UK this spring and summer

Renowned Italian jazz guitarist Andrea Rinciari has a new album, Soho Sessions, out on 16 May, with an album launch gig at Pizza Express Soho on 19 May.

Released on his own label Andrea Rinciari Recordings and distributed via ECN, Soho Sessions contains eight personally-chosen jazz standards and hidden gems; accompanying Rinciarni is a stellar quartet featuring tenor saxophonist Alex Garnett, bassist Lorenzo Morabito and drummer Mark Taylor.

“The album represents a great period of my life where I was playing in Soho every week with this band and we were able to create a vast repertoire of tunes by various different composers, from American songbook composers to the most obscure bebop artists,” explains Rinciari. “So, the tracks of this album are a good representation of those tunes.”

Among the tunes are: a Barry Harris (Harris mentored Rinciari early in the guitarist's career) arrangement of ‘Bean And The Boys’, a rare John Collins piece (‘John’s Delight’), and a reharmonised ‘I Can’t Get Started’ inspired by Teddy Wilson. Other highlights include a fresh take on ‘Tea For Two’, Bud Powell’s ‘John’s Abbey’, and deep cuts by Freddie Redd, Elmo Hope and Sonny Rollins: ‘Time to Smile’ and ‘Carvin’ the Rock’ respectively. The album closes with Rinciari’s signature contrapuntal solo interpretation of ‘Polka Dots And Moonbeams’.

The album, produced by Rinciari and Garnett, was recorded on 26 April 2024 at Fish Factory Studios, mixed by Ben Lamdin, and mastered by Gearbox Records' Caspar Sutton Jones. It will be available on CD, vinyl LP, as a download and via the usual streaming services.

By way of a preview of the new album, watch Rinciari and Garrett perform 'Bean and the Boys' via the video link below.

Tickets for the Pizza Express show are on sale now – details of this gig plus full UK tour dates can be found at: https://www.andrearinciari.com/gigs