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SAVINA YANNATOU'S
Primavera en Salonico
& MUSICA NUDA

"Her musicians swing like a jazz group, dance like a folk ensemble and have the soul of a blues band." ~ Jazzwise

The Small World Music Festival presents a jazz head's dream concert with the experimental SAVINA YANNATOU'S PRIMAVERA EN SALONICO and the "bare" essentials from Italian group, MUSICA NUDA. This concert is made possible with the generous support of the Istituto Italiano di Cultura.

Savina Yannatou & Primavera en Salonico are tightrope walkers on the chord connecting the music of the East with Western Europe, the music of the Middle Ages with the popular songs of the Mediterranean.

It's all based on collective improvisation and free jazz, with a foundation in the irregularly rhythmic riches of the Eastern Maqam. Yannatou gives special emphasis to the expression of the "musical quality" of language, using her remarkable voice as an instrument.

Their latest album Songs Of An Other, recorded in Athens in October of 2007, is the third album by Greek singer Savina Yannatou & Primavera en Salonico on the formal Euro-jazz label ECM. It finds the adventurous collective sailing through traditional songs from Armenia, Macedonia, Serbia, Kazakhstan, and Southern Italy as well as Greece, adding a 16th Century hymn from the Yiddish tradition. The improvisational aspect is stronger on this album than the previous two and the arrangements by Kostas Vomvolos, with input from all band members, successfully unify the traditions, while Savina locates areas where experimental vocal technique can overlap with the idiosyncrasies of folk singing.

Savina Yannatou & Primavera en Salonico have been giving concerts all over the world since 1996, including the whole of Europe, the US, Israel and Taiwan, and in prestigious venues like the Queen Elizabeth Hall and the Barbican in London and the 92nd Street Y in New York. The group is a favourite at world music festivals such as WOMAD, Stern Grove in San Francisco, Taipeh World Music Festival and Fiesta des Suds in Marseille. Jazz fests include the Moers New Jazz Festival in Germany, Etnosur Festival in Spain, Musicas do Mundo in Portugal and the International Jazz festival Muenster, Germany.

savinayannatou.com


With their elegantly "naked" combination of voice and double bass, MUSICA NUDA, the Italian "voice 'n' bass" duo of Petra Magoni and Ferruccio Spinetti's live performance pays homage to the great writers of the Italian canzone and French chanson traditions of such artists as Lucio Battisi, Fabrizio de André, Adriano Celentano, Jacques Brel, and Jacques Higelin. The duo also showcases songs by the new generation of Italian songwriters like Pacifico and Cristina Doná, and performs their own originals as well.

Musica Nuda refers to the art of stripping down a piece of music, regardless of genre, while preserving its intimate essence. It's the art of valuing the often overlooked "musical silence" and it's also the art of using humor to confront opposing extremes, as evidenced by Magoni's ethereal voice and Spinetti's witty anachronistic acoustic bass.

Magoni and Spinetti's current CD is 55/21 and was released on famed jazz label Blue Note in both France and Italy in June 2008. Continuing their love of expressions with multiple meanings, they found the inspiration for the album's title in the numerology of Naples, known as the Cabala Napoletana. The number 55 represents music and the number 21 a nude woman. Guest performers on the album include Italy's leading young jazz pianist Stefano Bollani (Petra's husband), Nicola Stilo (famed Italian jazz instrumentalist and sideman to Chet Baker), and French neo-Django guitarist Sanseverino.

musicanuda.com

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