The Link Quartet

The Link Quartet is the greatest Hammond beat band in the world and during their 3-year break demand has remained high. Resulting in: 3 compilations (Keep It Moving / Evolution / Long Live The Link) of out-of-print and unreleased tracks; continuous appearances on various artist’s packages from the UK to Japan; and a full-on assault of digital-download reissues (highlighted by even more out of print and unreleased). The Link Quartet also diversified into a whole host of new sounds and identities featuring the outrageously talented Paolo “Apollo” Negri disintegrating the plastic and ivory on nearly every kind of keyboard he could get his hands on: Fred Leslie’s missing Link (deep funk); Low Fidelity Jet-Set Orchestra (library/ nu-jazz); The Futuro Seven (space-fi); Wicked Minds/Electric Swan (prog rock); and the “A Bigger Tomorrow” (soul groove) solo album to name a few.
“This is Paolo…what a talent; if he’d been from the UK he’d have given James Taylor a very hard run for the UK fantasy-funk Hammond player/keyboardist.” (Craig Charles live on air – Funk and Soul Show, BBC, March 2009)
But there simply was no denying the compelling need to return to the raw Hammond blast of The Link Quartet groove where go-go girls, European performance cars, and espresso bars reign supreme. A mere week after Paolo’s March 2009 showcase at the SXSW Music Festival (Austin, TX), The Link Quartet were back in business with a session that resulted in two monster grooves built from pure energy and the basic instinct of that lustful DNA that few possess.
The pressure was on to deliver a master quickly for the looming summer tour, but the result has not a single ounce of seeming rushed, and confirms, underscores, and shouts to heaven in triplicate that the time for The Link Quartet’s return to rule the Hammond beat kingdom is clearly here and now.
“Fast Girls & Sexy Cars” and “Drummore” is their stronger-than-ever raw power in evidence: the breakneck power-pop pace of one and the laid-back-beat of the other. The soaring Hammond, sultry guitar, driving drums, and deeeeep bass have put The Link Quartet firmly in their own future – and that’s a place we all desire to be living.
Paolo “Apollo” Negri (Hammond) and Renzo Bassi (bass) are joined by new mates Marco “Majo” Murtas (guitar) and Alberto “Pato” Maffi (drums) and will be in the studio this autumn for the 6th album on Hammondbeat Records. Founding drummer Tony Face will continue as manager and part-time percussionist for the band.