Pepper and The Jellies are a 4 piece band headed by the jazz vocalist Ilenia Appicciafuoco. They aim to recreate the atmosphere of the 10’s, 20’s 30’s and 40’s jazz era and to evoke voices and tunes of the great jazz and blues divas like Bessie Smith, Ruth Etting, Ma Raney, Victoria Spivey, Sophie Tucker, Annette Hanshaw and Peggy Lee, among others. This research takes even place and reason by the musical instruments employed, like washboard, ukulele and kazoo, that Ilenia plays during the gigs. The band is also composed by Marco Galiffa (guitar) Emiliano Macrini (double bass) and Andrea Galiffa (snare and woodblocks). Their performances have always been appreciated by any kind of public. In 2013 they won the italian jazz contest Julia Jazz… e non solo. They also took part to Birmingham International Jazz and Blues Festival for two years, to Jazz Festival KotCertino, in Belgium, to Jazz Tage Lenk in Switzerland, Ringkobing Fjord Jazz in Denmark and JekerJazz Maastricht in Netherland. The band performed in Paris, in September 2015, and in Ireland in January 2016 for the Shannonside Winter Music Festival. Their first official album is “The Viper Session”.
Pepper and The Jellies è un quartetto capitanato dalla vocalist Ilenia Appicciafuoco. La band interpreta il blues, il jazz e lo swing dagli anni 10 agli anni 40, rendendo soprattutto omaggio alle grandi voci femminili: da Bessie Smith a Victoria Spivey, da Ethel Watersfino a Peggy Lee e Ruth Etting. Il loro sound, sintesi delle varie peculiarità e dei differenti percorsi musicali di ogni componente, è tuttavia originale e riconoscibile, lontano da qualsiasi tentativo di mera imitazione.
Nonostante la recente formazione, Pepper and The Jellies hanno alle spalle 2 tour in Inghilterra e svariati festival in Italia (Pozzuoli Jazz Festival; Modena Jazz Festival) e in Europa (tre edizioni del Birmingham International Jazz and Blues Festival, Open Jazz Festival KotCertino in Belgio, Jazz Tage Lenk in Svizzera, Shannonside Winter Jazz Festival in Irlanda, Ringkobing Fjord Jazz in Danimarca, JekerJazz Maastricht in Olanda).
La band ha già all’attivo 2 cd promozionali per l’estero, più il disco di Natale “Christmas Swing”, pubblicato nel novembre del 2015 insieme a “The Viper Session”, lavoro che incarna l’attuale spirito del quartetto.
