Bowling Ball

Sal La Rocca

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Artists

Maxime Blésin Guitar
Eric Prost Saxophone
Manu Duprey Piano
Mourad Benhammou Drums
Sal La Rocca Double bass

About

Guitarist Maxime Blésin's quartet get noticed. Their first Hard Bop album and tours left skid marks: "...explosive quintet..." – Jazz Hot ; "...a music of celebration..." – La Dernière Heure

So it was time for a second release: "Bowling Ball". Blésin came to jazz from rock and Brazilian popular music, after having spent a year in Rio de Janeiro. He returned to spend a further two years at the Antwerp jazz Studio.

In 1997 he hit the road again, this time for Boston where he worked with Jon Damian. The three French members have impressive references. Eric Prost was voted the "revelation" of the Marciac festival in 1999. A year later he was Wynton Marsalis' sideman at the same festival. He also currently appears in the new Christian Vander group. Manu Duprey is a noted sideman on the Parisian scene, having played with Frenchmen Eric Le Lann and Jérome Barde as well as Peter King and Paul Bollenback. Mourad Benhammou has accompanied Steve Potts, Alain Jean-Marie and Mino Cinelu.

Sal La Rocca, is one of Belgium's most in-demand double bassists. He has played alongside Toots, Philippe Catherine, Nathalie Loriers and Anne Ducros (in France). All this experience comes together as an accessible jazz, with swing and groove as the starting point. The original compositions delve into soul, funk and jazz with the unstoppable energy that is the group's true trademark.