Cosmic Renaissance | "Universal Language"

Gianluca Petrella is one of the most internationally renowned Italian musician, composer and producer, winner of the Down Beat Critics Poll in the “Rising Stars” category for two years in a row.

Cosmic Renaissance is a music collective led by Gianluca with Mirco Rubegni (trumpet), Riccardo Di Vinci (electric bass, double bass), Simone Padovani (percussion) and Federico Scettri (drums, samplers), with Soweto Kinch (vocals and tenor sax) as special guest among others. Cosmic Renaissance’s aim is to write and play music that actually starts from jazz and reaches new heights and music genres, in the name of unity, discovery, connection, understanding and other beautiful things that make us human. Try to imagine all this into music, and you’ll have an idea of how “Universal Language” really sounds!

“Mermaids really do exist. A few days ago, I came across the fantastic story of the Ama, literally the women of the sea. They live in Toba Bay, Japan, and have a long-established tradition that has been passed on from one generation to another for more than two thousand years. What do they do? They jump into the sea to fish for seaweed, octopus and, above all, for pearls. They are the real pearl fisherwomen. Counting solely on the strength of their lungs, they can reach depths of up to 20 meters.

When they ascend, their hyperventilating lungs emit a kind of whistle that resembles the cry of dolphins. Or more precisely, the singing of mermaids. When they are not diving, they train and help each other, passing on practices and secrets, confiding in one another to stay united. And they are cohesive, never envious of one another, just a great sense of belonging.

With his new work,  Gianluca Petrella seems to have drawn from this ancient tradition, made up of memories and traces. He went deep and searched the remotest memories and ancestral sounds of streets, eras and styles. With his curiosity and appreciation he has connected times and places afar, joining the dots with his contemporary gaze.  And like the Ama divers Gianluca is also surrounded by a community of musicians, fellow explorers with whom he can share a unique dimension.

‘Anyone who doesn't get along with musicians has an unresolved problem,' he tells me.  And that's why he’s particularly vocal about each of the five well-known members of his Cosmic Band and the many valuable guests who contributed to ‘Universal Language’. With their instruments, they generated a language that connects past and present, threading a continuous dialogue between generations.

A truly collective effort, all have striven in bringing ‘Universal Language’ to life, all deserve full praise, none excluded.

If you think you are just listening to jazz, you are sadly mistaken. There are dreamlike appearances, escapism; a celebration of life. A deep dive into the heart of music and its many languages. A real conversation about words, memory, and staying true to oneself. But it is also a work on how complicated it is to come to terms with identity, and Gianluca rewrites this identity in his own way. A work made of whispers, murmurs, in which music and language try to meet in new ways. A journey that takes us down into the abyss of the sea and up to the sky".

(from Federico Scoppio's liner notes)