Mop Mop is the brainchild of Andrea Benini, musician, producer, DJ who has been active for more than ten years exploring a large variety of musical genres, from club to jazz music. „Kiss of Kali“ is the name of his second album - originally released in 2008 only on CD, now available on vinyl for the first time.
Several musicians joined Mop Mop during the album recording like Latin piano player and composer Alex Trebo,“virtuoso” vibes player Pasquale Mirra,Down Beat Critics Poll winner Gianluca Petrella,Veteran Jazz singer Alan Farrington and the London singer Robina Veda. Mop Mop's music shakes Jazz and eclectic club sound with an Italian taste that joins international tendencies.
"...Just Imagine a place that doesn't exist where you can have a drink and dance till' dawn. Imagine a small keyboard soft lights a hip place; beyond you a round table where Jelly Roll Morton, Duke Ellington, Martin Denny and Mr. Soul number one James Brown are having a lively conversation. You're right there gettin' high with music, confused by the madness. Just close your eyes for a while and try to imagine the whole thing. I did it and I'm glad I did. The result of the Kiss of Kali..."
These lyrics from the title "The Round Table" pretty much explicate the thinking process when Andrea Benini started to produce "Kiss of Kali." His plan was to mix jazz music with a club flavor as well as incorporate his Italian roots.
He also felt like he needed to expand the traditional Jazz sound found on his first album "The 11th Pill" and create something new. He first began with the pre-production in 2006 and listened to a lot of records consisting of exotic, Afro, Latin and 30's jazz as well as any new productions released during the pre production period.
The musicians he work with are very close friends of him and are mostly featured on his first album as well. Piano player Alex Trebo, and vibes player Pasquale Mirra for example The studio sessions were conducted in three different studios, two in Italy and one in London. For the London sessions, they recorded the vocals for, "Kiss of Kali", and "The Lowered Flag". with a young singer from London, Robina Veda. Mop Mop was attracted to her sensual voice, and knew she was perfect for those two tracks.
All in all there are more than 20 musicians featured on the Kiss of Kali album.