Incognito founder and leader, Jean-Paul ‘Bluey’ Maunick, will be bringing to the stage CITRUS SUN, his eight-piece band made up largely of Incognito band members at Blue Note, Milan, Italy on Tuesday, 14th November, 2023.
The group was born out of Bluey’s love of soulful Jazz Funk instrumentals and the playing of legendary guitarist Jim Mullen, who he had followed as a teenager.
Bluey says:
“The purpose of CITRUS SUN was totally selfish because I wanted to work with musicians who were already in my band Incognito, and I also wanted to work with somebody who I was a fan of. I used to go to his gigs and sometimes not even be able to get in because I was too young to be in a pub, so I would just stand outside and listen to Jim Mullen play.
“There was so much music around London in the 70s when I was growing up. In one evening, you could go and see Gonzalez, just get on your bike and cycle across town and go and see FBI, and then go across town and find a jam session where someone like Jim would be playing. It was always like this every day.
“So CITRUS SUN is a representation of that journey. Sometimes we’ll be just jamming out, and sometimes we’ll just be looking at one another, like, “Do I change here?” But the true essence of jazz is in this band, in the fact that we allow each other space to be able to shine and be allowed to become the darkened sky that allows the brightness of the sky to shine even more brightly.”
Over the years, CITRUS SUN has performed all over the world. Since their first album, ‘Another Time, Another Space’(2001), the band has produced further albums; ‘People of Tomorrow’(2014), and ‘Ride Like the Wind’(2018) and ‘Expansions and Visions’(2020). They have achieved US Chart successes with tracks “Mais Uma Vez”, “Calling Mr Wolf” and “Hard Boiled”(15 weeks on Billboard Smooth Jazz).