Putuyamo presents Italia

DVDfever.co.uk – Putuyamo presents Italia CD reviewElly Roberts reviews

Putuyamo presents ItaliaDistributed by
Putumayo World Music

• Released: May 2009
• Rating: 10/10+
• Vote and comment on this album:View Comments

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Contemporary Italians reflect the globalisation of their country, through music.

On this sublime collection, effectively a sequel to Italian Café from June 2005 which focussed on the post war optimism and carefree energy of the period, as 1950s American jazz blended with Italian ballads and folk music.

Putumayo now concentrates on a new batch of incredibly enthusiastic artists prepared to brave a new wave of eclecticism, though past-masters are very much in their thought process. It reflects the ever growing fusion of indigenous sounds with outside influences occurring musically around the globe today. It’s a gamble, but it works brilliantly, especially on Italia.

One such protagonist is much travelled Simone Lo Porto from Milan.This restless soul embarked on many travels in Europe, the Middle East and Latin America. It was during his travels he began concentrating on songwriting. It was a far removed task from his initial visual arts studies and freelance television cameraman duties.Lo Porto draws inspiration from the lush and cool Brazilian rhythms and instrumentation for his delightful song Il Girasole (The Sunflower) where he still manages to infuse an indigenous feel through his simple observational artistic lyrics, and smooth vocal style.

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Founded by Roman singer-songwriter Serge Gaggiotti in 2002, quintet Rossomalpelo is possibly the most interesting and eclectic of the bunch.This fabulous band takes in influences including jazz, pop, blues, tango, Caribbean and Latin music, but their Il Mare Mi Salva (The Sea Saves Me) draws its elements from Gypsy-folk with Latin jazz overtones, celebrating the joys of summer spent on the beach: “We’ll arrive at the sea, full of desire for the sun / To dry out the damp of the months spent working / We’ll surrender ourselves to the moon’s kisses, “ is pure Italian romanticism. There’s an exquisite sax solo by Carlo Conti.

For me, the album really takes off with the fabulous tango flavoured Colpo di Coda. Pitoni’s solo career began in 1997, following a stint with a band in the mid-80s. This track, which tells the tale of escapism, is lifted from his solo album Le Cose Che Vedi. Violin and harmonium initially lay a gypsy texture, but the passion of the piece kicks in when the brass section huff and puff giving it a passionate mood.It comes as no surprise that someone should throw in a touch of reggae.

Around since 1993 with 11 albums under their belt, Bandabardo lead by Enrico Enriquez Greppi, they take things to the max with this infectious and jolly tale about the apprehensions of a neophyte’s romantic encounter, hence the title The Beginner.Melodic singer-songwriter Giorgio Conte is well known for his witty lyrics, “Dance with me / Even if you’re half asleep,” is typical of his quirkiness. This former lawyer (he gave up practicing in 1993 to pursue a musical career) has a penchant for indulging in crossover jazz mixed with French chanson, and Dance With Me (Balla Con Me) is a gushing example of his sometimes melodramatic romantic songs.

Lu Colombo is a big name on the Italian music scene via her disco hits Maracaibo and Dance All Nite (the usual Eurovision types) and musical theatre exploits. Here she goes for a more subdued and subtle acoustic swing template. Gina, the story of an alcoholic, pulls no punches in its advice.

Known as the Italian Leonard Cohen, husky voiced Gianmaria Testa began performing his introspective songs in the northern region of Piemonte, near France. Il Viaggio (The Voyage) is a folky tale sung in a husky voice with acoustic guitar, and is arguably the most indigenous song and sound on offer. It’s not the greatest sounding song here, but fits well on the compilation.

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Musicologist and guitarist Lino Straulino is well known for singing in Friulian dialect used in the north eastern region of Friuli.He also adopts a more traditional template, from the European folk songbook, often favoured by the likes of Ralph McTell. A violent spirit was quite common in the genre’s writing, and La Piccola Inglesina (The Little English Girl) is a typical tale of murder that he probably acquired from village elders in his home region during his early performances.

The only instrumental on the CD is Iquique, named after a Chilean village that pianist composer Rocco De Rosa’s grandfather emigrated to in the 1920s. This spirited gem from De Rosa’s 2002 album Rotto Distratte sees a return to more Mediterranean colours underpinned by solid jazz rhythms and fusion elements. His piano work is exquisite, though much of the track is driven by brass edgy swings. After fronting a heavy metal band for several years, Canadian born Marco Calliari switched codes after years of listening to his parents’ opera and folk collection as a youngster. Returning to his musical roots in 2006, he surprised everyone with the retro sounds of his solo album Che La Vita.

Written by Neapolitan musician Renato Carosone, Tu Vuo’ Fa’ L’ameicano was a huge hit due to Sophia Loren duetting with Clark Gable in the romantic movie La baia di Napoli (It Started In Naples / 1960). Most music lovers will know this delightful tune, originally done in a pseudo rock’n’roll style reflecting the exuberant mood of post -war Naples, with Calliari keeping much of the original’s spirit with added brass blasts.Urban singer-songwriter Alessandro Mannarino’s tale of being drunk with love, Me So ‘Mbriacato is typical of his eclectic repertoire reflecting Rome’s modern multicultural influences. A big star in Italy, Mannarino also injects Balkan and Gyspy flavours into this magnificent, if cheesy, tragicomic ballad, that Italians do so well.

The verdict – Another winner for Putumayo.

Weblink: For info and music samples visit:putumayo.com

Also, one of the artists on the new Putumayo CD, India, Kiran Ahluwalia is nominated for a Songlines Award, category ‘Best Newcomer’:

songlines.co.uk/awards2009 /vimeo.com/3270306

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The full list of tracks included are :

1. Il Girasole – Simone Lo Porto
2. Il Mare Mi Salva – Rossomalpelo
3. Colpo di Coda – Alessandro Pitoni
4. Il Principiante – Bandabardo
5. Balla Con Me – Giorgio Conte
6. Gina – Lu Colombo & Maurizio Geri Swingtet
7. Il Viaggio – Gianmaria Testa
8. La Piccola Inglesina – Lino Straulino
9. Rocco De Rosa – Iquique
10. L’Americano – Marco Calliari
11. Me So Mbriacato – Alessandro MannarinoView the discussion thread.blog comments powered by Disqus= 0) {query += ‘url’ + i + ‘=’ + encodeURIComponent(links[i].href) + ‘&’;}}document.write(”);})();//]]]]>]]>

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