Simona Molinari
Saturday, 9pm, Grappa's Cellar
Italian singer Simona Molinari makes music to smoke cigarettes to, most likely out of a cigarette holder. Her silvery vocals trip dexterously up and down the scales to a backdrop of light trumpet and jazzy piano, evoking a sense of late nights by romantic canals.
Molinari is no stranger to Hong Kong, thanks to the healthy dose of Italian talent coming via the Italy Live project, a showcase of emerging Italian artists organised by local producer Walter Rizzi.
Molinari (right) first played here in April after Rizzi spotted her in Milan and this time she'll be performing tracks from her new album, Croce e Delizia (Cross and Delight), a deliciously airy collection of pop-infused cool jazz tunes.
'My idol is Freddie Mercury,' she says. 'I like Nina Simone and Billie Holiday but I don't want to be someone else - I try to sing like me.'
Molinari wrote most of the tracks, which are intimate, lyrical fare reflecting on her life as an artist and a year spent on an international tour. The album also features the single Love at First Sight, a duet with grand dame of Italian pop, Ornella Vanoni.
The 27-year-old prefers to sing in English, though she's fluent in French and Italian. 'English is the most beautiful language to sing in,' she says. 'The sound of English is simple because most words finish in consonants. It's harder to sing a vowel at the end of the word.'
Technical, maybe, no doubt thanks to Molinari's string of qualifications in the art of the voice. She began studying singing at the age of eight and at 16, specialised in pop and jazz, then improvisational jazz and classical music. When she began writing her own songs, she won the illustrious competition SanremoLab with Egocentrica, the title track off her 2009 debut album of the same name. The album has since picked up several awards including the Italian Lunezia Award for best debut. Up next are more albums, more tours and a whole lot of Asia love, with Tokyo, Macau and Shanghai next.
'I think Asia is a very good place to start something,' she says. 'There is desire to do something here.'
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