f50
Anna Cinzia Villani
ANNA CINZIA VILLANI Fimmana, Mare E Focu! AnimaMundi 23
I first encountered the astonishing voice of Salento’s Anna Cinzia Villani on Nistanimera’s CD Choré which got a suitably OTT rave at the front of the review section of fR262 back in 2005. Since then came a fabulous solo album Ninnamorella which missed our radar com- pletely (I only know this now having spotted and downloaded it following some manic Googlesurfing inspired by the receipt of this one). Then up popped this which I’ve had on constant play for the past month.
I started that last review saying: “Way down at the foot of Italy, they have tradition- al music that sounds like it comes from a dif- ferent planet. It’s way out there in the middle of the Mediterranean, completely separated from the mainland of Europe to the north, to which it’s tenuously attached, far closer to North Africa.” Well, those several-thousand- year-old-music, singing and dance traditions have been enjoying a complicated revival – particularly of the pizzica tarantata (the trance music supposedly designed to cure the dancers of the effects of the bite of the taran- tula spider) and the flirtatious pizzica pizzica couple dance. On the one hand, there’s a hugely successful commercial aspect that now results in hundreds of thousands attending Puglia’s annual La Notte della Taranta festival (for an English equivalent, imagine a massive early ’90s style rave where the repetitive beats are a modern version of the morris… you just boggled, right?). On the other hand you have people like Anna Cinzia who, while she participates in that event, has been
Kristi Stassinopoulou & Stathis Kalyviotis
researching and learning from older local singers, musicians, dancers and communities, immersing herself in deep, and making sure that the traditions carry on at the grass roots.
Anna Cinzia plays tamburello (tam- bourine), melodeon – though not on the new CD where Annamaria Bagorda takes that role – dances and sings. And what a singer! The antithesis of those wispy ‘little girl’ voices that some people whinge about, she goes out there to the extremes without a safety net, open-throated, daring, emotional, joyful, free and uninhibited, completely inhabiting her chosen tradition. A mixture of traditional and original songs, this is full of energy and occasional tenderness, surrounded by an accomplished small band (accordeon, percus- sion, acoustic guitar, double bass, harmonica, fiddle and occasional brass) who manage that difficult job of playing appropriately to the songs, the tradition and her spirit, whilst hint- ing at some background jazz skills.
From the goose-pimple raising Lun-
tananza and the entrancing La Partenza to the funky wildness of Pizzica Pizzica Di Coper- tino, the bustling carnival atmosphere of Mujerima Le La Musica È Pazza Pazza and the skipping lope of Farnaru Farnareddhu, from the short opening snippet Ìjo Pucanè that’s polyphonic in an almost Balkan way to the closing vocal duet waltz Puccia Canaja with Daniele Girasoli, this is one fabulous album that ought to establish her as a major voice in European folk, world music, or whatever else you want to call it. Hope it gets the distribu- tion. fRoots feature in the works for the autumn (we already booked the flights!).
www.annacinziavillani.it www.suonidalmondo.com
Ian Anderson
KRISTI STASSINOPOULOU & STATHIS KALYVIOTIS Greekadelia Riverboat TUGCD1065
The all-star fRoots 30th Birthday Concert at the Roundhouse a few years back was a night of celebration
and revelation. Even those whose music had previously failed to strike a chord with me delivered short sets that hit the spot. Chief among these were the duo of Kristi Stassinopoulou and Stathis Kalyviotis, who flew in especially from Greece to perform one song. My previous encounters with Stassinopoulou and her band had left me cold. A gifted singer with an interesting take on updating Greek traditions, but delivered in a somewhat over-fussy musical setting. Hearing her with just the one accompanist, I realised what a wonderfully expressive voice she’s got (you can hear for yourself as the performance is up on YouTube)
This album – like June Tabor & Oyster-
band’s Ragged Kingdom –was catalysed by that night, just Stassinopoulou and Kalyviotis, the former on harmonium and percussion as well as vocals, the latter on lauto (Greek lute), live looping and electronics, perform- ing a set of tunes from the rural Greek demotika tradition. As the album’s title sug- gests, these are not straightforward interpre- tations – Greece’s branch of the Folk Police will no doubt be issuing a warrant as I write – but the delivery and arrangements are pleas- ingly understated and clearly made by people who love the material. Kristi’s voice quite rightly takes centre stage and it really is a thing of beauty, neither florid nor overly dra-
Photo: K Tsiganos
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84