Hello,
As you know, Fall is full of showcase festivals and professional conferences for our sector. From
Womex to
Visa for Music, from
Mundial Montreal to
FiraB, and many other
regional or international appointments, one must make a choice.
For what we’re concerned with, our efforts will go to the
EFN- European Folk Network Conference in
Budapest to be held on November 17 and 18, and to
Musiconnect-Italy, the first showcase event for Italian folk/world music artists to take place in
Pistoia on
December 2 to 5.
Coming to the Italian world/folk music scene, which has for years been known almost exclusively for the taranta-pizzica, and for Salento, let me say that there is much more to explore and discover.
I started five years ago to collaborate with the social activist, poet, minstrel, singer, and songwriter
Luca Bassanese. I’m very surprised that with
twelve albums under his belt (two of them produced during the pandemic through successful crowdfunding campaigns), various
honorary awards, unique live performances that have fired the stages of some the major European music festivals like
Paleo and
Sziget, there is still so little interest among journalists, presenters, and promoters with an artist who has grown his
fanbase on
Facebook organically from 13.000 to more
100.000 followers during the lock down, by appearing online every day to engage with his
fans from all over the world, and has such a charisma on stage that it takes no more than five minutes to get the
audience as one.
Go and check it out! You’ll be positively impressed. This is where Manu Chao or Goran Bregovic meet Fellini and the spirit of Italy’s Commedia dell’Arte.
I feel we must deconstruct the idea that Italian artists want to sing and perform only to Italians (see Måneskin). Each region of Italy has such a rich cultural and musical diversity that speaks to the world.
If the albums don’t say much to you - it’s modern Italian poetry -,
check him live, or have a look at the
video clips. They tell more!
Have a good week!
Eric
PS: Dates available in Benelux-France in May (Luca is already booked for the Labadoux and Airbag festivals in Belgium in that period)
