LEDDA Elena
Sonos

Fy 8030

8021750803026
Dunya Records
Italia

 

After the great success of Maremannu, one of the most interesting world music records of 2000, Felmay Records are now reissuing Sonos, an acoustic album of great distinction originally recorded and released in 1988. The project was originally conceived the previous year around ELENA LEDDA and Mauro Palmas and was designed to be the natural continuation of Suonofficina, an open formation which brought together numerous musicians from both the jazz and the ethnic music worlds. In 1988 Mauro Palmas produced the album Sonos on which ELENA LEDDA, aside from her co-author Palmas was accompanied by a dozen or so musicians including Riccardo Lay, Marcello Ledda, Riccardo Tesi and Sandro Satta. The use of musicians whose background was not exclusively traditional contributed to giving the record an even more creative and highly nuanced sound, even if the matrix remained the reworking of classic Sardinian tunes. Sonos was released to considerable international acclaim in Germany, Japan and the US.

Born in Selargius, ELENA LEDDA is without doubt one of the Italian artists of recent years who has been most successfully in marrying ancient and modern sounds. She began her career at a young age, adding to her classical voice studies at Cagliari conservatory (where she also studied oboe) her rediscovery of the traditional Sardinian vocal heritage together with her brother Marcello who accompanied her on guitar during live performances.

ELENA LEDDA's voice is the perfect union of strength and sweetness, combining expressive versatility and rigour with pure emotion, a technique that is the result of intense years of trial and experiment. She has the bravura of a great interpreter, with just the right degree of vocal shading and nuance, inflections whose chiaroscuro delivery sends a shudder through the audience. A voice that bewitches whoever hears it, whether or not they know the Sard language. It's not surprising that ELENA LEDDA over the course of her career has recorded for mumerous foreign labels and is considered a star of the first order also overseas. For all those who loved Maremannu, this reissue is yet another confirmation of ELENA LEDDA's talent, while for those unfamiliar with her work Sonos is the perfect introduction to this refined and eclectic artist, a pioneer in forging a music anchored in Sard tradition yet which is at the same time open to manifold influences.