Claudio Sanfilippo
Stile Libero

I begin by saying that this first album by Claudio Sanfilippo is not easy to find. I don’t know how many people have had the fortune of listening to "Stile libero," but I can speak of the pleasure I felt the first time I put it in the player. The impression was like hearing the voice of a great friend whom, for a series of circumstances, I had lost touch with.

In every song, I found the conversations we had under a veranda on a summer afternoon or at night, perhaps by the light of good wine (which never hurts) and with a guitar (Claudio's) painting suggestions. All this to say that I have never met Sanfilippo, but thanks to his album, I discovered that I have known him forever. A song like "Stile libero" is a small miracle of two minutes and forty-three seconds, elegant and essential; "Muchacha en la ventana," with its sensual progression (thanks to the excellent work on drums and percussion by Elio Rivagli), is blessed with lightness; "Non è lei" immediately wins you over with its immediacy (it seems like a third cousin of "Aguas de Março" by Jobim).

The album (released in 1996) benefits from the presence of prestigious guests (Ares Tavolazzi, Roberta Gambarini, Eugenio Finardi, Rossana Casale, Carlo Marrale, Piero Milesi). Two little trivia: the album won the Tenco Award as the best debut work, and the song that gives the album its title was also recorded by Mina.