Boston – After many years in the U.S., where she is a vocal jazz and contemporary music instructor at the prestigious Berklee College of Music in Boston, Sissy Castrogiovanni – known simply as Sissy – announces her new musical project with the release of Blu (Manũ Records), available from May 9, with the video to follow shortly.
Her 2021 album Terra was shortlisted for four Grammy nominations, and her style has been defined by American critics as “Sicilian Jazz.”
With Blu, Sissy makes a bold shift from jazz to rock and blues, telling a story about the courage to make difficult, “crazy” choices, going against expectations.
After spending much of her life in America – she holds dual citizenship – and bringing Sicily to the U.S. through jazz, Sissy now wants to bring a touch of America to Italy, returning to her first love: blues. At 18, she was known as “the black voice, the blues voice.”
Written by Sissy and produced and arranged by Pierpaolo Latina, the song features Sissy on vocals and backing vocals, Gianpaolo Lombardo on drums, Antonio Moscato on bass, Osvaldo Lo Iacono on guitar, Pierpaolo Latina on piano, Hammond and programming, Giuseppe Spampinato on trumpet, Fabio Tiralongo on sax, Nando Sorbello on trombone, and Teresa Raneri and Esmeralda Pennisi on backing vocals.
Among Sissy’s most notable collaborations are performances with legendary vocalist and multi-Grammy winner Bobby McFerrin, as well as jazz greats such as Jack DeJohnette, Patrice Rushen, and Latin Grammy-winning producer Javier Limon.