Paolo "Apollo" Negri makes his first trip back to the US since 2004's Sound of Danger tour with a pair of appearances at the legendary SXSW festival in Austin, Texas.  Entitled Paolo Apollo Negri's SXSW Odyssey, he will be joined by his long time friends The Diplomats of Solid Sound and brand new friends and label mates Flyjack, with funky harmonizing by The Diplomettes and Teresa Reeves-Gilmer.

First up will be the official SXSW showcase event that will feature a tight 45 minute journey through the 7 year collaboration with Hammondbeat Records from The Link Quartet to Fred Leslie's missing Link and everything in between.  Then there is the soon to be legend day party at the historic Victory Grill which will feature 5 hours of funk from The Diplomats of Solid Sound, Flyjack, an encore of the showcase, and topped off with an no holds barred funk and soul jam.

All of this is commemorated with a brand new album exclusive for download.  The first 1000 of which were given away for free at the SXSW festival and will be available in the summer of 2009 from iTunes.  The album features 12 unreleased and exclusive songs from the Hammondbeat archives, all with Apollo either solo or in one of his many collaborations.

Do be sure to download the supporting documentation in the links section to find out more about the Hammondbeat releases that these lost session tracks are from.