Ligurian band I Liguriani are back with Stundai, their second studio album, which follows their successful debut, Suoni dai Mondi Liguri, released in 2011. Stundai features ten new tracks that literally ooze with the history and tradition of Liguria’s musical culture, showing an almost obsessive care for lyrics and melodies.
The album blends together material taken from the local narrative singing tradition, such as the songs and dances of Liguria’s four Provinces, the war songs, and the musical manuscripts preserved in Genoa Cathedral, like Minuetto, a track that the band has retrieved from the Diocesan Archive.
Stundai includes both vocal and instrumental tracks. Among the former, it is certainly worth mentioning Vico Drito Pontexello / Valzer da Cheuilla, a song from the folk tradition singing about youth, love, justice, freedom, and family through the words of a young man that is held in prison despite being innocent.
The purely musical folk tradition reaches its climax in tracks like Suittu / Giga Svissera / Monferrina del Paluc, a cheerful dance drawing inspiration from Celtic music, whose rhythm makes the listener feel like dancing freely to these age-old, enthralling sounds.
I Liguriani are a supergroup playing traditional music, similar to what the Cream was for hard rock back in the 1960s: each of the band members is indeed an outstanding solo artist on the Italian traditional music scene and contributes with his own taste and sensitivity to the creation of a unique sound, that is sensationally engaging in dances as it is charmingly evocative in the most intimate tracks.
The folk group recently successfully performed in Spain, Switzerland, the UK, Belgium, Germany, and the Czech Republic. In January 2012 the group was one of the guest bands playing in Glasgow (Scotland) at the Celtic Connections, the most renowned European festival devoted to Celtic music.
Stundai is an album filled with references to folk music from the past centuries, arranged and played in a modern key – a real treat for those who love this genre, who will also benefit from Zerodieci Studio’s flawless recording techniques.
Listen to music samples
1. Pantalino / Polca in La minore (traditionals) |
2. La Bella Noeva (traditional) |
3. Battista e Boeri (Fabio Rinaudo) |
| 4. Per Valli e Monti / La Cavalcata del Disertore (traditional / Fabio Biale) |
5. Per Nuto (Michel Balatti, Claudio De Angeli) |
6. Belle Figge (Fabio Biale) |
| 7. Vico Dritto Pontexello / Valzer da Cheuillia (De Scalzi, Zullo / Filippo Gambetta) |
8. Suittu / Giga Svissera / Monferrina del Paluc (traditional / traditional / Maurizio Martinotti) |
