Come to Poppa. New Album by Cortez Out October 2, 2020.

Rome, Italy, September 27, 2020 –(PR.com)– Composed of 12 tracks, “Come to Poppa” is a musical journey through the moods of funky, disco and soul music of the Seventies, when vinyl was the master: a return to the sound of Studio 54 in New York and the revolution of rhythm in American pop. The disc will be available in digital format on the main streaming platforms and on CD upon request and on Cortez website.

Recorded in the artist’s studio in Rome, “Come to Poppa” was born from the idea of ??a musical celebration of a mix of musical styles to which Cortez did not seem very attached up to now: disco music, funky and soul. In this period of difficulty for everyone, the freshness of these songs, while perhaps screeching a little, were used by the Italian artist to recharge the batteries. It starts with “Give it up,” a song that certainly is inspired by New York and Philadelphia from the golden years of disco music. It continues with other songs full of rhythm and soul, to get to “Funky Love,” which features guitar references reminding George Benson. With “Do You Think I’m Crazy,” which promises to be a dance song for summer 2021, some falsettos remind us the Bee Gees of Saturday Night Fever. A peculiarity: the last song, “Blue Door Fight Club Night” is inspired by a dialogue between Rocky and his son, in the film “Rocky Balboa.” Initially, the American actor’s speech was present in the song but for copyright reasons it was not possible to keep it. A piece full of energy and with more contemporary features, close to certain works by Jamiroquai.

“I was preparing the new album in Italian which was ready to be released at the beginning of 2021,” Cortez says, “but I already had an unusual album ready, that was not rock. I almost had some reserve to propose it to my audience, since it appeared so apparently far from my rock music culture.”

And in fact, Cortez’s latest work certainly cannot be approached, in style, to his artistic history.

“Like many of my age, I didn’t grow up only with Dylan and Springsteen,” he continues: “in the 70s there were my mother’s records around the house: Bee Gees, Barry White, Boney M, Donna Summer, a lot of vinyl records: a lot of black music, funky and soul.”

Inevitably Cortez was fascinated by that music, it was contaminated by it and “Come to Poppa” came out with, apparently, little things to do with him.

Yet Cortez wrote all the songs and arrangements. Everything you will hear on the album was played and produced by the Italian artist himself.

“So it’s an album that belongs to me a lot, despite the style.” We are used to the artistic turning points of Cortez, who, since he produced under his real name Alessandro Bagagli, has produced a rich discography that is very heterogeneous in stylistic terms.

“Come to Poppa” is a rich work in terms of arrangements and production: strings and horn sections, funky and slap basses, guitars and moog, Rhodes piano, a mix of funky, disco 70’s style, even going jazz. In short, even in the artistic references that deviate from the love for rock music declared by the artist, the result is sparkling, festive and pleasant.

“It’s a saying that makes you dance, it’s joyful and given the time we live in, I first asked my followers for advice on my social channels. The answer was unambiguous: what are you waiting for to publish it? “

But what does the title of the album mean?
Come to Poppa is an American slang expression that has always been used and well known in the Seventies. It is no coincidence that Bob Seger also released a song with the same title.

The meaning is simple: it is an often whispered temptation to achieve a desired outcome in gambling, games, money or love.

This is the tracklist of “Come to Poppa”: “Give It Up!”, “Keep Your Body in Motion,” “I Like it,” “Do You Think I’m Crazy,” “Funky Love,” “What You Say,” “ Without Love,”“ Comin’ Back to You,”“Living with the Boogie,” “U & I,” “When It’s Really Love” and “Blue Door Fight Club Night.”

To enhance the album, played entirely by the Roman artist, a digital book with photos and lyrics of the songs, downloadable from the artist’s official website, www.officialcortez.net by those who have purchased the digital album.

Cortez also conceived and created the album cover.

Everything that has been described makes “Come to Poppa” a project of great musical importance, dedicated to the numerous and loyal fans of disco, funky, soul and rhythm & blues music but also intended to involve and approach a younger audience that wants to deepen the roots of contemporary black music.

Cortez, an Italian artist from Rome, was known by his real name Alessandro Bagagli for his English production, 7 rock albums available digitally in streaming and download on the main e-music stores: Under the Gun and Magic in the Air (2013), Shouted Songs (2014), Primal Life (2015), Live & Die (2016), Out in the Nowhere (2017) and Highways & Cigars (2018).

With the classic rock riffs of his 1952 Telecaster, the chords and licks of the Byrds-style 12-string Rickenbacker and the extended, powerful vocals, his music owes its influence to artists such as Bruce Springsteen, Tom Petty, John Mellencamp and Pearl. Jam.

He started in 1994 with PolyGram / Mercury under the stage name Alex Baggi and an Italian rock album called Un po ‘di Sentimento. After his experience as Alessandro Bagagli, he collaborated with many artists from all over the world on two of his projects with the name “The Eve,” realizing two albums, The Eve and Entropy, both released in 2019 and available in all e-music stores for streaming and downloading.

The Italian artist then decided to enrich his musical path starting with a new stage name, “Cortez” and two brand new works in Italian, two rock albums called Poeta di Strada (Street Poet) and Nel Colore della Notte (In the Color of the Night), both available for streaming and download on all e-music stores.

From 2 October 2020 Cortez’s new album “Come to Poppa” will be available, again in English and a lot of funky disco pop and soul sounds.