|
|
Marlevar
Marlevar (Forrest Hill)
$16.99
Just having the voice of Luisa Cottifogli in the front line was enough for me to fall in love with this recording. Spending their last summer on a European tour with The Cheiftains is just icing on the cake. This excellent acoustic ensemble displays a world of musical interests from Italy and France (Provence) and creates their own unique sound with these pieces.
Listen:
La Mourro
L'Espri de la neissenco
Draio d'amour
|
| These are powerful, deeply-felt messages that transcend borders, beliefs, language barriers and attention spans and pull us in. There is both a religious and earthy feeling to this record; it speaks clearly of subjects that we usually can't find enough time to ponder. So, like every good poet should, Marlevar force us to face those questions, to stop working and contemplate the things we usually leave out for Summer vacations or while waiting to hear the first cry of a newborn child. - Nondas Kitsos, RootsWorld (Read the full review) |
From the band's press release:
A very special and evocative place also influenced the creativity of this project.
In this magical place Davi Arneodo (accordeon, flute, back-up vocals and composer of most of the songs on the CD), Mark Ficarra (violin, guitar, back-up vocals and co-composer), Luca Allievi (guitar and back-up vocals), Roberto Chiriaco (electric bass, double bass and clarinet), Edoardo Bellotti (drums and percussion), and Luisa Cottifogli with her extraordinary "ethnic" voice, accompanied by the ATHENA STRING QUARTET lived, created and recorded together for the realisation of a CD not only musically mature but technically innovative. They were assisted by GIANCARLO PIEROZZI and used technologically avante-guard instrumentation (Yamaha Technology PM D1 bank, 28 bit acquisition). They shared an unforgettable human and artistic experience This type of experience can be made available to other artists with similar creative demands, who are in search of deeper inspirations. The kind of inspirations best described in the following quotation .."Todo lo que hace el viento / ex tra zar en la terra / el sendero que pasa al màs allà / donde el universo es màs claro.." (All that the wind does/traces on the earth/the path that passes to the other world/where the universe is clearer). An all enveloping message of deep intimacy that one also finds in the titles of the poetic lyrics of the Provençal poet Sergio Arneodo; "Dins lou vert of tiéi uéi" . (In the green of your eyes), "L'esprì de the neissenco". (The spirit of birth), "Draio d.amour" (Path of love), and finally, "Una inmensa claridad" (An immense clarity)... with its warm, resonating Iberian dream.
MARLEVAR means "high tide" but also "levitation" and "rising up". It represents a marked change in popular music, that in the past tended to fall into nostalgic country-type inuendos and comes head to head with the demands of the market. This project presents a cross-sectional diffusion, outside the narrow constraints of "genre" and of reactionary borders. The last song on the CD, "Megu Megun" was written by Ivano Fossati. It is suitably dedicated to the memory of Fabrizio De Andrè, neighbour of this magical place and who with his song "Creuza de ma", (sung in his dialect) exceeded all geographical borders and consensus.
Five Conservatory graduate musicians with a common passion for ancient music and similar experiences in performing music that cross various borders and open new horizons, rediscover a fascinating neo-latin language (Provençal) and its origins: the suavity of the French, the passion of the Spanish and the rich sonorities of the Italian languages. Provençal is historically associated to the Mediterranean. The Provençal language is used to sustain the highly cultured and strong lyricism of this innovative project that paradoxically fuses classical, traditional and energetic music. Simple melodic and harmonic progressions and enticing whispered rhythms, rotate and caress the lyrics. This familiar and archaic metric creates a Unitarian musical world, which is unique and at the same time universal: popular art at its highest level.
A place where ancient legends pervade and where the Ligurians and the Celts once cohabited. Where underground smugglers and "trovatori" crossed paths at "Lou Counvent", a woody hill that was named after a monk, whom, a thousand years before, arrived from the foggy Rhone and created the first commune. The memory for this "obscure" site hides the secret of a magical place, that encourages exchange: a kind of "secret portal" between nations and geographical locations, between past and future and between the mountain and the sea that can be seen and felt from Mount Bego.
All credit card orders are placed on a secure server.
|
Please note!
Most CDs have been
imported from Europe or Asia.
They are not all
shrink-wrapped, and I am not
going to con you by wrapping them
here just to make you think they
have been sterilized in America.
We guarantee that the CDs and the
contents are all brand new and in
perfect condition. Whenever I
can, I use recycled shipping
materials. They may not look as
pretty on the outside, but they save
money and keep the trash dumps a
little bit emptier.
|