Italian Jazz Drummer, Tommaso Moretti Announces New Album Inside Out Featuring Ben Lamar Gay with First Single + Video for "Redefine the Purpose"

Moretti introduces this record with the reflection: “It connects the dots between the intimate dimension of an inspiration and the aesthetic need to translate it into defined musical languages. It’s a quest to find the inner layer of humanity that allows a connection between the meaning of three words: "Sentimento, Saudade, Soul."

Feeling, longing, experience, and form are the narrative and musical themes.

The rhythm section of Moretti’s drums and percussion, Ben Dillinger’s bass, and Edinho Gerber’s electric and acoustic guitars offers a foundation for Jake Wark’s saxophone, as well as the cornet of Ben Lamar Gay and Natalie Lande's flute. Moretti’s voice, xylophone, and electronics extend the sound pallet on multiple pieces, providing a deeply personal set of timbres: the voice is vehicle of language and lyrics here, detailed, and specific; the xylophone is playful and articulate; the electronics extend a sense of space and motion. Some careful overdubs grow the arrangements while keeping the focus on a naturalistic group sound, full of dynamic changes, interplay, and the sound of musicians listening to one another: supportive, balanced, and in dialogue. This dance - of the group of individuals playing within a shared structure - gathers around eight pieces grounded in the specific textures and concerns of Moretti’s life - at once particular and broadly human; of motion and about place - manifesting some specific thematic concerns expressed in each.

With a feel both placid and restless, Moretti notes, “the lyrics reflect a common feeling during the first months of the pandemic: a wish that humanity could learn from mistakes and break out the vicious circle of greed.” The instrumental pallet here documents the eclectic collection of instruments Moretti had on hand at home during the 2020 lockdown- drums, classical guitar, xylophone, percussion, and the voice- augmented in this recording by bass and flute.