Fed4Real is the alter-ego of Frederico Manuel Nomo Fernandez and following his recent soulful offering, "Funk Temple", this young gentleman dishes up a real treat in the jazzy form of Jazzylicious. Born in 1981, it's wonderful that someone of this age is making great music such as this. Having a real ear for tunes as well as being a singer, film maker, actor and fashion model this chap has more strings to his bow than you can account for. Fredrico really has the knack of a great jazz performer. Take, if you will, a listen to the immaculate crafting of "Paradise" which contains all the elements of a quality vocal jazz recording. Laid back, chilled and sounding as if this was cut live in one take, the vocals are dreamy, almost melancholic and eminently attune to the music that he has created. I think the word we're looking for is 'atmospheric'! The melody and attunement of vocals reminds me of the same pattern as Keith Washington’s "Kissing You" - and a perfect song for a candle-lit dinner. Upping the tempo is the title song with some keys tasty enough to remind us of Lonnie Liston Smith and piano that would have Bob James nodding in assent.In "The Way It Feels" I hear a flavour of Gary Taylor's recent work, although vocally not in the same league Frederico adds some wispish, ethereal quality to this style and again this comes to mind on the excellent "Searching For You" with it's seductive spoken intro. "Oldschool mama" sets a scene - I can envisage a very warm, cosy recording studio with Fede and his musicians hustled in and simply laying this down. Fede's loving this and his vocals are almost ad-lib in style, riffing off and in his vocalising he is surely attuned to what he is laying down. this cat is feelin' it and that ain't a bad thing in my book! Vulnerability and indecision are part and parcel of falling in love - should there be such a thing - and Fede perfectly nails this vocally and musically. His performance is wonderfully impromptu and adds credibility to his music. He is, essentially, espousing deep feeling and concerns to himself yet to a wider audience. How clever is this?! Check out the superb synth behind all this and the chord changes that make this extra special. If you have yet to check out Fede4real and soak up what this young man of many talents has to offer!
Barry Towler
The Vibe scribe
