Melbourne/Naarm has long been home to a rich crossover of jazz, soul, funk and experimental sounds, and Erica Tucceri has been part of that world for some time. A brilliant flautist, composer and producer, she has lent her talents to many artists, including Surprise Chef, ZFEX, Don Glori and Alexander Flood. She first presented her work as a bandleader and composer at the 2024 Melbourne International Jazz Festival, and has since relocated to London. Now Tucceri has announced her debut album, Route 96, due out on November 27th through DeepMatter Records. The album sprouted from the seeds of an usual chapter in her life. During Melbourne’s Covid lockdowns, she was working as a tram driver, and it was during those shifts that many of the album’s ideas began to take shape. What started as melodies and fragments recorded on her phone eventually became a full record, drawing on her memories of Melbourne and the sounds of everyday life in the city. She comments:
“This album is what happens when you leave a moonlighting musician alone in the drivers cabin of a Melbourne tram for a few years. The compositions took shape while I drove. Influenced by the city around me, I’d sing ideas into my phone at the end of my shift, tying the fabric of the music to the sights, sounds and memories of the city. My only rule: if it was catchy enough to have remembered throughout the shift, it was worth capturing.”
Musically, Route 96 brings together jazz, percussion-heavy grooves, broken beats, psychedelia and dancefloor rhythms, with Tucceri’s flute at its centre. The album also features Lewis Moody on keys and production, Ziggy Zeitgeist on drums, Matthew Hayes on bass, and percussionists Ray Pereira and Javier Fredes.
Alongside the album announcement, Tucceri has shared the first single, ‘Grazzie Ragazzi’, a buoyant and rhythm-led track that draws from the feeling of a packed dancefloor and a particular night at Section 8, where the crowd seemed to move together as one. She explains:
“I will never forget the way the energy of the whole room turned. It was heaving. Everyone in the space turned to face the stage, the band were on fire and the dance floor went completely nuts, almost as one. I’ve spent many a night at Section 8, but I’ve never seen that again.”
Listen to ‘‘Grazzie Ragazzi’ below.
