''Santo Spirito Blues'' is the twenty-third studio album by British singer-songwriter

Chris Rea Christopher Anton Rea ( ; born 4 March 1951) is an English rock and blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, fie ...

, released in 2011 by his independent record label Jazzee Blue and

Rhino Entertainment Rhino Entertainment Company is an American specialty record label and production company founded in 1978. It is currently the catalog division for Warner Music Group. Its current CEO is Mark Pinkus. History Founded in 1978, Rhino was original ...

Summary

The album, titled "Santo Spirito Blues" marked a distinctive project. In addition to the standard CD edition, a deluxe version was released, featuring two DVDs containing documentaries titled "Bull Fighting" and "Santo Spirito," along with two CDs containing the soundtracks of these documentaries. Chris Rea drew inspiration for the album from the Santo Spirito church in Florence during a visit to his daughter. Regarding the first documentary, his interest was piqued by the theme of bullfighting and matadors, including figures like Julián López Escobar. However, during a trip to

Seville Seville (; es, Sevilla, ) is the capital and largest city of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the River Guadalquivir, in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula ...

, when he attended a bullfight, he was horrified by the harsh reality. He left the event, stating that "there are two sides to that story because even after the bull is half dead, the bullfighter still has to be really brave." The documentary "Bull Fighting" (59 minutes) offers a raw and brutally honest chronicle of bullfighting. It features neo-classical and Spanish-themed gypsy music. The second documentary, "Santo Spirito" (55 minutes), adopts the appearance of a Russian 1930s black and white film. It follows a man on a quest for truth in religion in the city of Florence—a journey he may or may not wish he had undertaken. Both documentaries were written and directed by Rea, with assistance from filmmaker Scott McBurney. itation neededRea recalls that he created these films "just so that I could compose the music." The second documentary was broadcast in September 2011 on '' Tagesschau'' German television service.

Reception

Jon O'Brien in review for

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

rated the album 3/5 stars and concluded that the "overall ambitious concept proves that the just-turned-sixty-year-old certainly no longer holds any commercial aspirations". Artur Schulz for

laut.de laut.de is a German online magazine dealing exclusively with entertainment music, especially pop music, rock music, alternative, metal, hip-hop, jazz and techno. It comprises record reviews, interviews, biographies of important artists, music ...

gave it the same score, and noted it has a mixture of both authentic blues and his pop-rock catchy work (particularly "The Chance of Love") from the "

Dancing with Strangers ''Dancing with Strangers'' is the ninth studio album by British singer-songwriter Chris Rea, released in 1987. It became Rea's first major success in the UK, peaking at No. 2 behind Michael Jackson's ''Bad'', and spent 46 weeks in the charts be ...

" era, "with mostly good results: Chris manages the balancing act between fun and seriousness mostly effortlessly". Luke Turner in

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...

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Summary

Reception

Track listing

Personnel

Charts

Certifications

References