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Canzoniere Grecanico Salentino are
Mauro Durante: frame drums, violin, voice; Giulio Bianco: zampogna, harmonica, recorders, ciaramella; Emanuele Licci: voice, bouzouki; Maria Mazzotta: voice, castagnette; Massimiliano Morabito: diatonic accordion; Giancarlo Paglialunga: voice, tamburello; and Silvia Perrone: dance |
By Lucian
My friends and I recently had the pleasure of seeing the pizzica Salentina group Canzoniere Grecanico Salentino perform at Joe's Pub in Manhattan, and it was every bit as good as I expected.
The group played a nice mixture of traditional and original songs and the passion and pace gave me an adrenaline rush throughout their performance. They used a variety of instruments including the zampogna, which is the southern Italian version of the bag pipes. Silvia Perrone appeared onstage in a beautiful red dress and her traditional dancing was captivating. My only disappointment was that the concert was only an hour long, but what a spectacular hour it was! |
CGS are an explosive whirlwind of dance and music
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Peppe Voltarelli was in attendance and joined the group for their finale. We were also fortunate to be sitting nearby (musician, songwriter, and singer) Allison Scola and a group of her friends. When they danced to the music it made a wonderful night even better.
It is not every day that we have the opportunity to experience authentic Southern Italian music and taranta dancing. I felt privileged to be surrounded by such warmth, tradition and joy.
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CGS take a curtain call
Photos courtesy of Ioannis Fidanakis
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