Town Hall Seattle and SAMA: Music+Art present
Global Rhythms: Canzoniere Grecanico Salentino
Scattered Rhymes and Tarantula Dances
EVENT NOTES
Lobby doors for this event will open at 6:00 PM. The Great Hall will open for seating at 7:00 PM.
Free and reduced cost tickets made possible in part by
Cure whatever may ail you, whether it be a bite from the tarantula or just a general malaise at the state of the world with Canzoniere Grecanico Salentino (CGS), a seven-member ensemble from the Salento peninsula of Apulia “the heel of the boot” of Italy.
Led by tambourine player and violinist, Mauro Duarante, who inherited leadership from his father in 2007, CGS combines music and dance that engage centuries of history with lyrics that often address modern challenges. By reinterpreting musical traditions, including the famous ritual, pizzica tarantata (believed to have the power to cure the bite of a tarantula through music, trance, and dance), CGS bring historic sounds into the present with respect paid to the past.
Canzoniere Grecanico Salentino is anchored by the singing of a trio of outstanding vocalists: the mesmerizing Alessia Tondo, Giancarlo Paglialunga (a masterful player of the tamburrieddhu), and Emanuele Licci, a guitar and bouzouki player who, like Durante, is the son of an original CGS member, reminding us of the importance of tradition passed down through a familial line. Powering the band’s sound are Giulio Bianco on a brace of instruments including the Italian bagpipes, and pizzica scholar Massimiliano Morabito, hailed as “the best traditional diatonic accordionist in Puglia.” In keeping with the tradition of tarantism, the seventh member of the band is not a musician at all, but the incomparable dancer Silvia Perrone.
When listening, it becomes apparent that the energy of the music reflects the peninsula of Apulia from which the band hails, soaring across cliffs of emotion as waves of passion crash into a rocky sea before nestling to rest in a quaint stucco abode. CGS continues the Salentine tradition of using pizzica tarantata to draw the community together in order to process life’s struggles and to expel the poisons of the contemporary world.
Watch: “Taranta” – Canzoniere Grecanico Salentino live a Propaganda Live (La7)
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The original brainchild of the writer Rina Durante, Canzoniere Grecanico Salentino is the foremost traditional music band from Salento, in Puglia. The longstanding band came together some 35 years ago. In 2007, the lead passed from the original founder of the band, Daniele Durante, to his son Mauro (already a highly regarded frame drums player and violinist) who has played with numerous artists, such as Ludovico Einaudi, Piers Faccini, Ballake Sissoko, Ibrahim Maalouf, Stewart Copeland, and La Notte della Taranta. At the age of 26, Mauro Durante is the musical assistant to Ludovico Einaudi, Maestro Concertatore of La Notte della Taranta. Canzoniere performed live in front of more than 100,000 people to open the Concertone of La Notte della Taranta in Melpignano. With a range from the energetic pizzica pizzica, to the tenderness of songs of love and longing, from the festa-like exuberance of a local band, to an ironic glance towards modernity, Canzoniere provides an intense and atmospheric spectacle.
Presented by Town Hall Seattle and SAMA: Music+Art.
Global Atmosphere
Pre-Show Food and Beverages starting at 6PM
Starting at 6:00PM, mingle in the Lobby and enjoy food for purchase from local vendors; specialty beverages will also be available at our cafe. Come early, get some dinner, and immerse yourself in the flavors of the culture before the show.
This is part of the Global Rhythms Series
In-Kind Media Support provided by KEXP.