MENNA Mirco & BANDA DI AVOLA
... e l'italiano ride

Fy 8160

885016816025
Felmay Records
Italia

 

The key word is surely ‘empathy’, to feel together, to be linked together by a common feeling: Banda di Avola and Mirco Menna do share a deep feeling for sure. The tracks written by the songwriter and the brass band arrangements have profoundly linked together and this empathy oozes out from every note on this cd. Rather than a musical encounter between the two, it seems more like a home coming to a mutual birth place, a familiar dwelling. This is actually a genuine popular record, just as much brass bands represent the untouched essence of two centuries of popular music traditions. The sound arising is sincerely bygone yet absolutely contemporary and never outmoded. Lyrics describe today’s stories with today’s language, thus attaining in this musical context an ageless amazing energy. ...e l'italiano ride is not at all a manieristic work, a ‘cut and paste’ operation of different styles. On the contrary it is coherent in its nature and consistent in its structure, sharing with the listeners an astounding song texture.

BANDA DI AVOLA comes to its second recording after the Sicilian brass band repertoire centred cd “’A Banna!” in 2002. This new production “… e l’italiano ride”, marks the band’s encounter with Mirco Menna songwriter from Bologna who is responsible for the eleven tracks contained in the cd, some drawn from his previous albums (“Nebbia di idee”, 2002; “Quanto ci vuole”, 2005; “Ecco”, 2005), and some recently written for this recording. Benefiting as usual of the attentive production by Fabio Barovero BANDA DI AVOLA here successfully experiments bonding tradition (committed songwriter style) with twinkling wind instruments distinctive of all brass bands. MENNA’s lyrics are mocking, demystifying yet deeply human and poetic. Led by the remarkable author’s voice, the lyrics are rightly matched with the sound track performed by BANDA DI AVOLA. Lyrical passages take turn with loud ensemble compositions, charming melodic moments with stormy rhythmic pieces, to simply confirm how this Sicilian group can rightly answer to what any single theme requests.
The direction of the band and all arrangements are as usual entrusted to maestro Sebastiano Bell’Arte, responsible in 1996 of the rebirth of the training and music academy. An intuition that allowed many young musicians to undertake a human and artistic journey that has been giving fruits since 2000 (various are the prizes and acknowledgments gathered by BANDA DI AVOLA ). The average age of the group’s members is well below twenty, this is simply remarkable if you listen carefully to the track “… e l’italiano ride”, flawless, strong and oozing with musical passion.

 

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