Recorded
live in the studio and eschewing the modern approach of artificially building
the music piece by piece, the group was able to harness the energy that is such
a distinctive part of its live shows, but in a setting where the sound of each
instrument is faithfully represented. Argentinian guitarist Claudio Ragazzi, who
has recorded with Bebel Gilberto, makes a guest appearance on three tracks,
including Pascoal's baiao Bebé.
The band
began as an informal trio when Club d'Elf bassist Mike Rivard, electric
mandolinist Matt Glover and accordionist Roberto Cassan got together to explore
their mutual love for folk music from all over the world, especially the styles
born out of the Gypsy diaspora. Occasionally gigging around Boston/Cambridge
when schedules with their other bands allowed, the trio became a quartet with
the addition of percussionist and singer Fabio Pirozzolo, and Grand Fatilla was
born. Honing the music over the course of countless sweaty nights in various
venues (including packed houses at the Regattabar) has attracted a considerable
following, notable for its raucous enthusiasm and varied ethnic make-up.
Audience members from different countries recognize music from their culture
and assume at least one of the members must be a fellow countryman, the music
being performed so authentically. Like an iPod on shuffle the group jumps from
Argentine Tangos to Italian Tarantellas, from Turkish sacred Sufi songs to
Irish reels, Moroccan trance to Bulgarian dance music, all performed with an
emphasis on improvisational group interplay and playful spontaneity.
In this
age of heightened global consciousness the repertoire that Grand Fatilla
performs acknowledges and pays homage to the idea that it is indeed One World
that we all live in, and the music of diverse cultures enriches us all. At a
Grand Fatilla show one finds ex-pats from Italy, Bulgaria, Brazil and all
points on the globe rubbing shoulders with tribal belly dancers, bohemian poets
and college students, all coming together in the celebration of music that
transcends boundaries.
Each
member of the band brings a distinct flavor and area of expertise in different
world music to the collective sound: Cassan and Pirozzolo both hail from Italy
where they were immersed in the folk music of that area (and play with the
Italian folk group Newpoli), and have also intensely explored Balkan, Tango,
Brazilian and South American music. Glover came to Boston from his native
Newfoundland where he absorbed the Celtic influences and fiddle music of that
area, as well as studying the South Indian style of mandolinist U. Srinivas.
Rivard, who is also a member of Indian-jazz group Natraj and plays with the
Boston Pops Orchestra, has a passion for North African music, especially
Moroccan trance music. This lead him to study the sintir, a 3-stringed bass
lute, which is featured on the tracks Five Of Swords (recorded on an instrument
presented to him by Gnawa legend Maalem Mahmoud Guinia during a trip to
Morocco) and the shifting time signatures and intricate rhythms of Kasha.
With two
members of the group originally from Italy, it's no surprise that the group
embraces folk music from that country. Alla Carpinese was originally collected
by ethnomusicologists Alan Lomax and Diego Carpitella during their 1950s
expedition in the little town of Carpino in Southern Italy, and the band gives
it a somewhat unorthodox treatment, with an unaccompanied bass solo beginning
the track. Southern Italian Medley is a mix of two melodies both from Southern
Italy. Lomax and Carpitella collected the opening chant (they called it
"Lu Pecuraru") in Basilicata, and Pirozzolo sings it over a haunting
drone. The short text announces the marriage of a young shepherd, asking
whoever was listening to inform his mother of his decision. The second is a
fast tarantella (originally improvised by a singing barber) from the village of
Sannicandro Garganico in Apulia. Many of these melodies were used to heal cases
of tarantism, a recurring physical and psychological condition believed to be
caused by the bite of the Apulian tarantula. The healing ritual of the tarantella
would use music, rhythm, dance and colors to cure the afflicted person:
audience members at a Grand Fatilla show are often compelled into ecstatic
dance, spider bite or not!
The
music of Bulgaria is represented by two tracks: Sandansko Oro and Cigansko Oro
("Oro" or "Horo" is a general term to indicate various
dances from Bulgaria and Macedonia). The former is a dance tune that comes from
the town of Sandanski, in the southwest corner of Bulgaria. The tune features a
challenging 22/16 meter, which for the mathematically-inclined can be broken up
into two asymmetrical parts: 9/16 (2+2+2+3) and 13/16 (2+2+2+3+2+2). Pirozzolo
adds the Bulgarian tapan to his percussion arsenal for this track. Cigansko Oro
is an arrangement of a version taken from the Hungarian group Zsaratnok, a
leading folk group in Balkan music during the 1980s, and features continuously
shifting time signatures which build up to the climax of Cassan's rousing
accordion solo in 7/8 time.
Cassan
contributes three original tunes: Domenie, which means "Sunday" in
the dialect of Friuli, in the Northeast region of Italy where he is from.
Although the style of music is more connected with the accordion tradition of
the northeast part of Brazil, the tune harkens back to the joy and celebration
that that day brought every week in his hometown. Milonga Para Lucia (dedicated
to his daughter) is written in the milonga style of the countryside of
Argentina, and it is also a tribute to the song Verde Milonga by the great
Italian singer-songwriter Paolo Conte). The waltz Corrente refers to the river
stream that keeps flowing, and mixes French musette, Venezuelan joropo, and
heavy southern Italian and Brazilian tambourine-style playing.
Another
composer whom the band has a particular fondness for is Astor Piazzolla, whose
hypnotic tango Fracanapa (the name of a Venetian mask) is a perfect vehicle for
Fatilla, and rounds out the program. Whether navigating the tricky time
signatures of a Bulgarian dance song, trancing to a Moroccan chaabi groove,
faithfully rendering an ancient Italian folk ballad, or rocking out with a John
Bonham beat, the band is committed to sharing its enthusiasm for all of the
styles it loves with an even wider audience, poised to embrace the infectious
energy and astonishing variety on Global Shuffle.
SEE
GRAND FATILLA LIVE:
Thursday
September 4, 2014
The
Regattabar at the Charles Hotel
One
Bennett Street, Cambridge, MA 02138
No comments:
Post a Comment