UNCONSCIOUS COLLECTIVE

ALBUM BY PS5 BY HYPERJAZZ

‘Unconscious Collective’ is the debut album from PS5, the new ensemble led by Pietro Santangelo (Nu Guinea, Slivovitz, Fitness Forever), set for release on May 21, 2021, via Hyperjazz Records. The album marks another step in the label’s ongoing journey to bridge the musical traditions of Southern Italy with a deep appreciation for African-American music and contemporary forms of expression.. 

‘‘Unconscious Collective’ is a musical experiment in which layered memories and hidden emotions emerge as if drawn directly from the deepest recesses of the unconscious, momentarily suspending the stream of consciousness. Aiming to induce a trance-like state and transcend rational thought, the album imagines a symbolic journey across the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean—ideally linking Naples with Northern and Sub-Saharan Africa, as well as Latin America.

The arrangements, written by Santangelo, are rooted in a profound freedom of improvisation. While the melodic lines of the two saxophones offer no clear points of reference, the other musicians navigate the rhythmic pulse and its unpredictable pathways..

The music flows effortlessly along an imaginary line that highlights the ancestral connections between places like Jamaica and Ethiopia, or Nigeria and Cuba.

At the heart of it all is Naples—a city that acts as a crucible where all these sonic ingredients are mixed and simmered in its mystical, spicy core. Alongside Santangelo on tenor and soprano saxophones, the collective features: Paolo Bianconcini, a brilliant Neapolitan percussionist with a deep Afro-Cuban background; Giuseppe Giroffi, a young and talented alto and baritone saxophonist; Vincenzo Lamagna on bass; and Salvatore Rainone on drums—both long-time collaborators from Santangelo’s former trio.

Recorded live at Auditorium Novecento in Naples—the legendary studio of Phonotype Records—Unconscious Collective was mixed in analog by Fabrizio Piccolo and mastered by Davide Barbarulo at his 20Hz20KHz Studio.

Pietro Santangelo Pietro was born, lives, and plays in Naples. As a saxophonist and composer, he has released five albums with Slivovitz and one with his PS3 trio (Clinamen, Emme records 2017).

Graduated in Digital Sound Processing at the Faculty of Physics of Federico II University, he is involved and engaged in the Italian scene of radical improvisation (Franco Ferguson, Elio Martusciello and Officina Arti Soniche, Collettivo NISE).

Multi-instrumentalist since forever, he has collaborated with Nu Guinea, Enzo Avitabile, Fitness Forever, Marzouk Mejri, Dennis Bovell, and many others. He’s also soundtracks author and electronic musician. He appreciates analog photography, loves walking outdoors. He hates biographical notes.

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