Salvatore Meccio:
Vocals, Bouzouki, Guitar ("battente"), Tammorra.
Massimo Laguardia:
Vocals, Tammorra, Tamburello, Percussion.
Vittorio Catalano:
Vocals, Soprano Sax, Flute, Ciaramella, Launneddas.
Nicolò Terrasi:
Vocals, acoustic Guitar, electric Guitar.
Luca Lo Bianco:
Vocals, Bass.
Giampaolo Terranova:
Vocals, Drums, Percussion.
New Folk Music from Sicily
Just imagine an enormous tambourine 50
centimetres in diameter that can effortlessly produce the range of sound of a complete set
of percussion. That is the TAMMORRA: a large framed drum with small
bells, which provides the powerful beat and furious drive in traditional southern Italian
popular music.
And then imagine six lively young Sicilians playing six TAMMORRAs
together - in unison! Anyone who has ever experienced this is immediately delighted with
the beating rhythms of the "Tammurriata" and "Tarantella", the relaxed
liveliness and sheer joie de vivre of the sort which can be experienced at (folk)
festivals in southern Italy. The six musicians draw on this power and these roots. They
have called themselves TAMMORRA (not to be confused with the Neapolitan
Cammorra!).
The group TAMMORRA was founded in 1992 in Palermo. The artistic
starting-point is authentic southern Italian, particularly Sicilian, folklore. An
astounding, vibrant music show quickly brought the ensemble international success.
Extensive concert tours then took the six young musicians first to the Italian mainland,
then to Switzerland, Austria, Hungary, Slovenia, Croatia, Spain and Portugal and since
1996 regularly to Germany too. In January 2000 they won the only award for European folk
music, the "Eiserner Eversteiner" of the Plauen Folkherbst.
Over the years the musicians have constantly improved their sound, developed new ideas and
taken on "foreign" influences: jazz and pop elements, sprinklings of Latino
music, rap, triphop - you name it. With much skill and sensitivity and with thorough
musical skill and knowledge, on their CD "SALI", TAMMORRA
have created a contemporary, original and convincing synthesis: new Mediterranean folk
music without cultural blinkers.
The lyrics - all in Sicilian dialect with the exception of »Tarantella de Gargano« -
reveal a masterfully ironic expression rich in metaphors. "We Sicilians have learnt
the art of irony. It is a useful gift of writing, for it helps us to spice our narrative
with acuity ", said Salvatore Meccio, author, singer and guitarist of the group. Here
he referred to a cultural peculiarity we know from the world-famous Sicilian writers
Pirandello, Sciascia and Camilleri.
So the title »SALI« - the salt which coastal Sicilians have a special
relationship with from their work in the great old salinas - is a metaphor for life..
Smell, just smell / This scent of sea and salt / It goes into the nose and chest / Heals
the lungs / And the heart, my heart / sings for you of the love / Of the love of my
country / The land where I was born / I'll tell you true stories, true and untrue / Salt
crystals give food its flavour / But they can burn your skin.
These lyrics, sung during the salt harvest in the salinas, form the beginning of the CD,
which ends with an a capella number, »The Snails «, one of the best-loved and funniest
Palermitan songs which are sung on happy social occasions. In between TAMMORRA
sets off musical fireworks with many surprises, full of energy, rhythm and joie de vivre.
Click here for
some background on the
meaning of »SALI« (engl. "Salt").
(Italian text with English translation) |
