corto.alto

Before you wonder about the artist's name: corto.alto means "short. tall" in English. Because behind corto.alto is a Scottish multi-instrumentalist and producer called Liam Shortall. So the creativity starts with the name. But don't worry, of course it doesn't end there. "Bad With Names", corto.alto's debut album, was shortlisted for the Mercury Prize last year, a seismograph for sustainable musical quality. Shortall gained his first merits as a trombonist with the Scottish National Jazz Orchestra, but it was with his Glasgow-based friends' project corto.alto that he found a form of expression that exemplifies the new British jazz and yet is completely different from the hipness of London: more unagitated and less powerful, but still young, fresh and sweaty. The perfectly crafted club-ready mix is the result of tireless work: around 50 musicians were involved in the project with varying degrees of intensity until the final distillate. Dub, jazz, soul, punk, hip-hop - all of this is now found, magnificently amalgamated, in this rousing music.