Antonella Montrasio è una delle più brillanti interpreti di musica brasiliana che ci siano in Italia. Dotata di un timbro caldo, un senso ritmico fuori dal comune, una profonda conoscenza e passione per la musica popolare brasiliana ed in particolare del genere “ bossa nova” ed una padronanza assoluta dell’idioma brasiliano che non ha eguali in Italia.
"Pingo pingando" con il supporto del Max De Aloe quartet propone una serie di brani che attingono interamente al repertorio del grande compositorre Antonio Carlos Jobim, detto Tom.
Antonella Montrasio, per la cronaca è figlia d’arte in quanto il padre, Raf Montrasio, è stato chitarrista e mandolinista dell’ensamble che suonando con Carosone ha inaugurato una epopea di musicisti di vaglia internazionale anche in Italia.
Max De Aloe, non ha bisogno di molte presentazioni : considerato uno degli armonicisti più quotati a livello internazionale. Si è classificato al secondo posto assoluto nella categoria strumentista dell'anno al "top referendum jazz" recente ( 2011) , il massimo riconoscimento italiano nell'ambito della musica jazz, epresso da una giuria di 60 giornalisti italiani.. Il suo quartetto annovera una ritmica d'eccellenza, ed include il pianista Roberto Olzer, segnalato tra i migliori nuovi talenti della scena jazz italiana sempre al recente "top referendum jazz". Insomma una proposta tutta italiana di altissimo profilo in omaggio alla musica ed al jazz carioca .
Antonella Montrasio is one of the most brilliant interpreters of brasilian music in Italy. She’s gifted with a warm timbre, a great sense of rhythm, a deep knowledge and passion towards brasilian popular music, particurarly “bossa nova” , and a total mastery of brasilian
idiom . “Pingo pingando” suggests , with the support of Max De Aloe quartet, a choice of songs entirely taken from the repertoire of the great composer Antonio Carlos Jobim, called Tom. Antonella Montrasio is the actor daughter of an actor father, Raf Montrasio, who played guitar and mandolin in Renato Carosone’s band, and represents one of the Italian musicians known all over the world.
Max De Aloe needs no introduction : he’s considered one of the most esteemed harmonica- players on an international scale. He was placed second within the whole instrumentalist class of the year at the recent (2011) “ top referendum jazz”, the top italian review within jazz music and was voted by a jury of 60 italian journalists. His quartet can boast exellent musicians including the pianist Roberto Olzer, pointed out among the best new talents within Italian jazz music at the same “top referendum jazz”. In other words, a high profiled Italian proposal honouring brasilian jazz and music.
Riproponiamo questo cd grazie al meraviglioso concerto che questo straordinario gruppo Klezmer Funky ha tenuto domenica 25 aprile a Milano presso la prestigiosa rassegna "Aperitivi in Concerto". Abraham Inc nasce dall'incontro tra David krakauer di radici musicali Klezmer con uno degli artisti funky piu' creativi sulla scena contemporanea Fred Wesley nome non sconosciuto a tutti i fans di James Brown. Ma a rendere ancora piu' unico e se si vuole contemporaneo il progetto è Socalled proveninete da area Hip Hop. La miscela che ne è scaturita è pura energia funky con la ballabilita' propria della musica Klezmer. Pronti allora per il party ?
An unprecedented collaboration between three cultural visionaries: DAVID KRAKAUER, champion of klezmer music and world-class clarinetist; legendary funk trombonist and arranger FRED WESLEY, celebrated for his work with James Brown and George Clinton; and hip-hop renegade and beat architect SOCALLED - Abraham Inc. heralds a time when boundaries are eroding, mutual respect is presumed, and musical traditions can hit with full force without concession or appropriation. Backed by a three-piece horn section led by Wesley plus musicians who collaborate frequently with Krakauer and Socalled - and the result is an all-out klezmer-funk dance party!
On the anniversary of James Brown’s birthday, it seemed fitting that one of JB’s most valued sidemen from the late ’60s, his former musical director and trombonist Fred Wesley (pictured), would be doin’ it to death at the legendary Apollo Theater. But on “Hava Nagila”? Oy!
This endlessly surprising yet highly successful hybrid of klezmer, funk and hip-hop had the enthusiastic crowd—young and old, Jews and gentiles, whites and blacks—dancing ecstatically in the aisles like it was a Jewish wedding. Wesley brought the funk while virtuoso clarinetist David Krakauer delivered the passionate intensity and deep Jewish soul that ties him to the lineage of klezmer clarinet kings like Naftule Brandwein and Dave Tarras. Montreal-based multi-instrumentalist and visionary beat architect Josh Dolgin, aka Socalled, provided a bridge between the klezmer and hip-hop worlds with his audacious Hebraic rapping while the Bronx-bred emcee C-Rayz Walz brought street cred to this unlikeliest of collaborations with his remarkable freestyling facility and stark urban imagery.
Krakauer, who since the mid ’90s has led renegade Klezmer Madness!, another experimental hybrid band that cleverly blends Eastern European Jewish music with avant-garde improvisation and surf-rock guitar styles, describes the adventurous Abraham, Inc. project as “a band where Jews make ‘phat beats’ and play funky lines while African-Americans play music from Yidl’ Mitn’ Fidl’ and sing Hebraic chants, interacting with the highest level of mutual respect and understanding for each other’s musicality, humanity, intelligence and rich cultural background.”
They did precisely that on the spirited opener, “Baleboosteh” (a Yiddish term meaning “the woman of the house”), which seamlessly blended funk rhythms, Eastern lines and Socalled’s call-and-response rap with C-Rayz. Their slamming, syncopated recreation of “Hava Nagila” was dubbed “The H Tune” while Wesley resurrected one of his classic James Brown funk horn arrangements on “Push,” in which trumpeter Curtis Taylor slipped in a quote from P-Funk’s “Flashlight” during his solo.
C-Rayz strolled the front of the stage on a funky rendition of Socalled’s buoyant klezmer number “Oyfn Hoif” and was later showcased on a powerfully moving rap about life in the ’hood, accompanied only by Socalled on upright piano playing Richard Rodgers’ stirring “Slaughter on Tenth Avenue.” Krakauer, the homerun hitter of this crew, unleashed his jaw-dropping chops on the hypnotic “Table Pounding,” named for a Hassidic ritual involving much wine and the slamming of fists. At the peak of his soaring solo, Krakauer’s whole body quaked with visceral intensity, as if he were trying to leap into the air. And he wailed with unrestrained passion on the hauntingly beautiful “Ms NC” (named for his wife) and the rousing klezmer throwdown “Moskowitz and Loops of It,” which had Socalled switching to accordion. Wesley hit on a familiar theme with his downhome storytelling about his Southern family reunion on “Breakin’ Bread” while Socalled got the audience involved in his politically tinged rap “The Good Old Days.” And for a rousing finale, Wesley led the crowd on the chorus of his funky, JB-inspired “House Party.”
The stars of this show—Wesley, Krakauer, Socalled and C-Rayz—were ably supported by a stellar band featuring Jerome Harris on electric bass, Sheryl Bailey and Allen Watsky on guitars, Brandon Wright on tenor sax and Michael Sarin on drums. Following this world premiere of Abraham, Inc., they’re taking this funky show on the road. Watch for an upcoming recording and live DVD recorded at this Apollo gig.
Nonostante si tratti di un cd uscito nel settembre dello scorso anno abbiamo il piacere di ripresentare questo bellissimo lavoro di Fatoumata Diawara in occasione del suo imminente Tour in Italia che tocchera' Torino, Cantu' e Roma. Tutti coloro che sono appassionati di sonorita' afro alla Rokia Traoré non avranno difficolta' ad innamorarsi di questa artista ponte tra la tradizione del suo paese, il Mali che proprio in questi giorni è toccato da un inopportuno golpe molitare e una citta' musicalmente ricca e ricettiva come Parigi, la vera capitale musicale di questo inizio millennio.
Fatoumata Diawara (aka Fatou) was born of Malian parents in the Ivory Coast in 1982. As a child she became a member of her father's dance troupe and was a popular performer of the wildly flailing didadi dance from Wassoulou, her ancestral home in western Mali. She was an energetic and headstrong girl and at the age of twelve her refusal to go to school finally prompted her parents to send her to live and be disciplined by an aunt in Bamako. She was not to see her parents again for over a decade.
Her aunt was an actress, and a few years after arriving, Fatou found herself on a film set looking after her aunt's infant child. The film's director was captivated by Fatou's adolescent beauty and she was given a one line part in the final scene of the film 'Taafe Fangan' ('The Power of Women'). This led to her being given a lead role by the celebrated director Cheick Omar Sissoko in his 1999 film 'La Genèse' (Genesis).
At the age of eighteen Fatou travelled to Paris to perform the classical Greek role of Antigone on stage. After touring with the production she returned to Mali where she was given the lead in Dani Kouyaté's popular 2001 film 'Sia, The Dream of the Python'. The film tells the story of a West African legend called Sia, a young girl who defies tradition. To many in Mali, Guinea, Senegal and Burkina Faso, Fatou is Sia thanks to the film's enormous success throughout the region.
Offers for further acting roles poured in but Fatou's family wanted her to settle down and marry and forced her to announce, live on Malian television, that she was abandoning her career as an actress.
In 2002 Jean-Louis Courcoult, the director of the renowned French theatre company, Royale de Luxe, travelled to Bamako to offer Fatou a part in his new production. An unmarried woman is considered a minor in Malian society so her family's permission was required. They refused. After much soul searching Fatou took the daring decision to run away and at Bamako airport she managed to board a plane for Paris, narrowly escaping the pursuit of the police who had been alerted to the girl's 'kidnapping'.
With Royal de Luxe Fatou performed a variety of roles around the world including tours in Vietnam, Mexico and throughout Europe. During rehearsals and quiet moments she took to singing backstage for her own amusement. She was overheard by the director and was soon singing solo during the company's performances. Encouraged by the reception from audiences she began to sing in Parisian clubs and cafes during breaks from touring. Here she met Cheikh Tidiane Seck the celebrated Malian musician and producer who invited her to travel with him back to Mali to work on two projects as chorus vocalist; 'Seya' the GRAMMY nominated album by Mali's star Oumou Sangaré and 'Red Earth' the GRAMMY winning Malian project by American jazz singer Dee Dee Bridgewater. When the albums were released Fatou toured worldwide as singer and dancer with both projects.
On her return to France Fatou took the role of Karaba in the popular touring musical 'Kirikou and Karaba'. She was encouraged to take the role by her friend Rokia Traore who also inspired her to take up the guitar: "To me it was a wonderful and daring thing: a Malian girl with an acoustic guitar. Why should the guitar be only for men?" Fatou bought herself a guitar and started to teach herself, and at the same time began to write down her own compositions.
She made the decision to dedicate herself to her passion, music. She worked to complete an album's worth of songs and started recording demos for which she composed and arranged all the titles, as well as playing guitar, percussion, bass and singing lead and harmony vocals. An introduction from Oumou Sangaré resulted in a record deal with World Circuit and the recording of her debut album.
Between recording sessions she found time to collaborate on Damon Albarn's Africa Express and contribute vocals to albums by Cheikh Lô, AfroCubism, Herbie Hancock's GRAMMY winning Imagine Project and Orchestra Poly-Rythmo de Cotonou.
Since the release of the highly acclaimed debut 'Fatou' (19 September 2011) Fatoumata has toured extensively with her band as well as with Damon Albarn, Tony Allen and Flea as part of the 'Rocket Juice and the Moon' project. As well as a live tour the group recorded an album of the same name (Released March, 2012).
Premesso che a nessuno dei personaggi coinvolti in questo progetto piace essere "classificato" in stereotipi o categorie possiamo dire che questo lavoro ci mostra la bellezza della musica contemporanea nella sua veste migliore. "Se fossi un albero avrei bisogno di radici ma siccome sono un uomo ho bisogno di gambe" è una delle citazioni preferite di Louis Sclavis e citazione migliore non può che adattarsi allo spirito di questo trio pensando a progetti come Suite Africaine e African Flashback. Dotato di una propria impronta musicale questo ensemble perfetto incontra in questo cd un altro straordinario trio dominato dal lirismo balcanico del pianista Bojan Z ( a mio parere uno degli artisti piu' sottovalutati che vi siano in circolazione )e dalla tromba del nostro Enrico Rava accompagnati in questa avventura dalla chitarra di Nguyen Le. Con questa produzione la Label Bleu ( etichetta che per nostra fortuna ha editato il cd ) torna a riconquistare un posto di primo piano nel panorama jazzistico internazionale. Il suono che ne scaturisce da questo incontro ( 3 + 3 ) è forza che pervade l'atmosfera che ci circonda, richiede la nostra attenzione come se qualcosa di arcaico ma allo stesso tempo attuale penetrasse dentro di noi...... E' la forza del jazz che con nuovo vigore ha deciso di riavvicinarsi con tutta la sua potenza. Uno dei migliori cd dell'anno.
Aldo Romano - drums, percussion / Louis Sclavis - saxophone, clarinet / Henri Texier - bass
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Enrico Rava - trumpet (1,2,7,10) / Nguyen Le - guitar (1,3,7,10) / Bojan Z - piano (1,5,10)
Riproponiamo questo cd grazie al meraviglioso concerto che questo straordinario gruppo Klezmer Funky ha tenuto domenica 25 aprile a Milano presso la prestigiosa rassegna "Aperitivi in Concerto". Abraham Inc nasce dall'incontro tra David krakauer di radici musicali Klezmer con uno degli artisti funky piu' creativi sulla scena contemporanea Fred Wesley nome non sconosciuto a tutti i fans di James Brown. Ma a rendere ancora piu' unico e se si vuole contemporaneo il progetto è Socalled proveninete da area Hip Hop. La miscela che ne è scaturita è pura energia funky con la ballabilita' propria della musica Klezmer. Pronti allora per il party ? 
