FORMOSA Ester & ELVA LUTZA
Cancionero

TR 18/18

885016008321
Tronos
Italia

 

Elva Lutza are one of the most interesting bands in Sardinian music: winner of Andrea Parodi Prize in 2011, they play an unusual mix of tradition, jazz improvisation and art song. In the new album “Cancionero” they are appearing with one of the great interpreters of Catalan mucic : Ester Formosa. The album is a collection of songs in Sardinian and Catalan, originals, classics by Lluis Llach, songs by Bruno Lauzi and Stefano Rosso, latin folklore and Sephardic Jews gems.

Elva Lutza (Nico Casu and Gianluca Dessì) are back, this time appearing with one of the great interpreters of Catalan music: the singer and actress Ester Formosa. Having been performing for thirty years, Ester has released seven albums, some in collaboration with the great guitarist Toti Soler and others with lyrics by Jordi Guardans and his father Felìu Formosa - probably the greatest living Catalan language literate. Ester is at ease in all musical genres: from the musical heritage of Catalonia and the Balearic Islands, to the reinterpretation of the major Catalan authors and poets (which inserts her in full right in the current of the Nova Cançò Català) to the revision of the literary classics for Hispanic-American music, to the digressions in more jazzy settings. Her voice adapts to various registers, ranging from contralto to light soprano and has impressive intonation. Ester Formosa is one of the noblest voices of Catalonia, although she also owes her great success to the theatre, especially to the interpretation of the character of La Canyi, a performance she toured with for years in Spain’s major theatres.
Elva Lutza are one of the most interesting bands in Sardinian music: after winning the Andrea Parodi prize in 2011, they released two recordings acclaimed by both critics and the public; their music is an unusual mix of tradition, jazz improvisation and art song.
The Ester Formosa/Elva Lutza project has now also given birth to a record called "Cancionero": the songs are in Catalan, in Sardinian, in Castilian and in ancient Sephardic. The CD, released by Tronos, will have international distribution (Felmay) and will be available in early September.
In the meantime the trio has performed in important festivals in Italy, France, (Avignon Theatre Festival), England (at the "Listen to the World" festival in London), Spain (in Barcelona, at the "Tradicionarius" festival) and, of course, in Sardinia.
Cancionero is, as its title says, a collection of songs. Some are originals, written in Sardinian and Catalan by Elva Lutza for Ester’s voice. Some are classics written by Lluis Llach and the Italian authors Bruno Lauzi and Stefano Rosso (the latter both translated into Catalan by Joan Casas Fuster, world-renowned poet and playwright), or belonging to the folklore of Latin American (the merengue "Acidito" and the very classic "Cielito Lindo"). Some are gems from the repertoire of the Sephardic Jews, with whom Ester is very familiar.
All the songs are arranged by Casu (who also signs on two of the original songs) and Dessì. Guests include the great accordionist Riccardo Tesi, the percussionist Bruno Piccinnu from Cordas et Cannas and a brass section.
The sound, with its odd rhythms, its trumpets of folkloric derivation and versatile guitars, is, again, typically Elva Lutza.