November 12, 2012

Peppe Voltarelli at Brooklyn's Barbès

Peppe Voltarelli
By Giovanni di Napoli
Peppe Voltarelli kicked off his month long residency at Barbès (376 9th St., Park Slope, Brooklyn) Saturday night in spectacular fashion. Billed as "a one-man musical monologue," the Calabrian singer-songwriter regaled the packed house with samples from his biographical project, Il viaggio, I padre, l'appartenza (The Voyage, the Fathers, the Longing), intimately retracing the journey from his native Southern Italian homeland to Northern Italy, Germany, Argentina and America. Voltarelli also paid tribute to some inspirational giants of Italian song, including Roman cantante Luciano Rossi. The set included outstanding renditions of Sta cittá and (my personal favorite) Marinai, as well as standards from his early folk-rock days.
Voltarelli will perform again at Barbès on November 17th, 24th and December 1st (7 PM). He will also appear at Drom (85 Avenue A) in Manhattan on December 8th (9 PM) before heading to Argentina.
Photos by New York Scugnizzo