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Rating: - The Live Performances of Sidekick No. 2 -
"Folk music is what people make to entertain the upper classes. Ethnic music, on the other hand, is what people create for themselves." (Fabrizio de André)
In this issue, I'll once again transport you to the atmosphere and music of the 28th edition of the Roccella Jazz Festival. The concert evenings generally consisted of two performances, each lasting between 60 and 90 minutes. This edition saw Polistena hosting two evenings: the first featuring only Steve Coleman, and the second a double concert. The following lines describe the latter. The setting could easily mislead someone who wasn't informed: a stage in a small hamlet of the Calabrian Apennines, a scene more fitting for the final concert of a local festival. Nonetheless, the names featured were worthy of a grand stage, and this seemingly inappropriate location perhaps proved to be perfect for a mid-August night spent under the canopy of great music. The concert began at 10 p.m.
Antonello Salis (pictured) literally darts onto the stage wearing a bandana, beach t-shirt, and jeans, beginning to play without addressing the audience. His sole interest seems to be to intoxicate us with the accordion, showcasing a total connection between musician and instrument that allows both to offer their maximum potential. Attending a concert solely dedicated to the accordion isn’t easy (especially if it’s your first time, as it was for me) because it requires a particular mindset that one only gains after years of live experience. Eyes and ears can be wholly devoted to the single musician, but paradoxically it becomes complicated to grasp certain nuances. Salis' performance is excellent, both stylistically and emotionally. The music is halfway between suggestive improvisations and the presentation of famous pieces including Antonia by Pat Metheny. Moreover, he demonstrated great respect for the audience. Toward the end of his concert, it began to rain, a significant downside for an outdoor performance. The organizers wanted to halt the evening and showed it with a decisive gesture: they turned off the stage lights. Salis didn’t worry and continued playing amid applause from an enthusiastic audience, to the point that a gentleman behind me said, "He deserves a round of applause on an open stage, but I don’t want to ruin this moment."
After about an hour, we reached the second part with Mimmo Epifani, an important mandolin player who brings barber music around Italy, popular songs originating from Alto Salento, especially San Vito dei Normanni. He takes the stage with his band, the Epifani Barbers, and Giorgia Santoro, a skilled flutist and tambourine player. Epifani is more outgoing and immediately draws the audience around him, introducing his songs in the Apulian dialect, showing himself intent on "challenging" the rain with the participation of the spectators. The audience follows him, and the sky seems to respond to his call: the rain indeed stops. It's beautiful to think that Music can offer such magic. The sounds are captivating, entertaining, and rooted in ethnic music and those cultural nuances. In front of the stage, people sing, form circles, and dance the tarantella for the joy of the senses, all of them. People's participation is total, something from another time.
The grand finale arrives in an encore that turns into a superb final session. Salis joins the stage and becomes the protagonist of a musically exhilarating atmosphere. We reach a peak of artistic and cultural ecstasy: a feast for the eyes and soul in an explosive and spectacular mix. In the end, there can only be a standing ovation, deserved without a doubt.
In the end, I also experience a very sweet personal moment: asking Epifani for his autograph, he responds, "The autograph? You're asking me? Go get it from maestro Salis." Outcome: I take both home with me. Returning to Reggio Calabria at the end of the evening, I think, "In my life, I may see better musicians, but the atmosphere and magic they offered me tonight probably nobody else will!" Believe me, for a concert like this, any star would be superfluous.
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