Urban Voyage

The “Urban Voyage” project was put together by Pol Belardi at the end of his studies at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam. It was meant to be a finale to his 6 years of living abroad, and at the same time reflecting the euphoria to start over with fresh adventures, which gave the initial push to endeavour a bigger lineup and new sounds. But not only the instrumentation was of a big concern for the bass guitar player and composer. More than that, he fancied with the idea of writing one large piece telling a story, being concise and connected in both a thematic way (musically speaking) as well as in the statement found within the lyrics. The result is a 25-minute-long suite for voice, rhythm section (piano, synths, guitar, vibraphone, drums and bass) and a 4-part horn section, expressing the thoughts of an overthinking person that took the step of leaving the countryside to enter the big city in pursuit of his/her dreams, thus encountering all sorts of new temptations, dangers, challenges and experiences of all kinds. Style-wise, the work is strongly rooted in what could be called “Urban” music, meaning groove music, electronic sounds, beats, spoken word, yet without forgetting the tradition, the past, represented by influences from jazz and impressionistic music, and enough room for improvisation. Much more than an original composition determined to fill the programme of a Master end exam, the “Urban Voyage” will take you for a ride exploring the development and influences that had a strong impact on Pol Belardi throughout the past years. Groove-Jazz-Impressionism-Lyricism-Band-Feeling