Pino Daniele
Bella 'Mbriana

I was little more than a child when the radios, perhaps only the Neapolitan ones, played the splendid “Na tazzulella e cafè”... “a man full of anger, shouted wise and truthful things”, that was “Pino Daniele” at the end of the '70s... where that anger has gone is a mystery...
A great musician, he was able to connect the classical and melodic Neapolitan musical tradition with his love for blues and jazz. Already in the first album, with a raw and immature sound, the potential of “our” was clearly evident. Over time he grew, both in the lyrics and in the quality of the arrangements, until composing the magical trilogy of “Nero a Metà”, “Vai Mò”, “Bella ‘Mbriana”; he would still have time to compose the melancholic “Musicante” and the amazing live “Sciò”; after that, unfortunately, at least as far as I’m concerned, he only wrote bland and banal songs.

The '70s, the South was still living its own “southern question”, poverty, ignorance, Camorra, smuggling... politicians interested only in filling their own pockets... few hopes for a city, too often neglected, too often forgotten, but perhaps, even so, something could still be done... unfortunately, however, in 1980 the earthquake of November 23 dealt the coup de grâce to a city already dying... a new "cancer" seized the city, neighborhood thugs were replaced by Camorra associations, new "criminals" arrived from the provinces and took control of the city, the rain of money that would fall for reconstruction would fill the pockets of the Camorra and the conniving politicians, the consequences would be paid only by the city's image and the people who would not benefit from the reconstruction either in terms of infrastructure or direct money. Even today, this cancer eats away at my city. Pino Daniele tried to warn us, even with a song that might seem light and playful like “Je so’ pazzo”: we needed to fight, get angry, rebel... instead, nothing, we let the political class fill us with nonsense and promises never kept.

The first album after the earthquake would be “Vai Mò”, to which, albeit subtly, but not too much in the track “Puorteme a casa mia”, reference is made; subsequently, the album “Bella ‘mbriana” would be released in 1982, and collaborations with international artists such as Wayne Shorter and Alphonso Johnson would begin, it is the pinnacle of Pino Daniele's compositional maturity, the first track, perhaps one of the best of the entire career of our guy, “Annarè” is a poignant, melancholic “ballad” with a stratospheric guitar solo.
Masterfully arranged, the album has space for “Blues, Jazz, Funky, Rock, Bossa Nova” without ever going overboard, without any clashing notes, all skillfully mixed. There is not a single track below par, everything is at the highest levels, and it features, a rare thing in Pino Daniele’s repertoire, an instrumental track, the splendid “Toledo”, just listening to this solo track would be enough to illustrate the compositional peaks reached by this artist...

"Nuje ca cercammo Dio stammo pè sempe annure nuje ca cercammo 'o bbene nun simmo maje sicuri e nun c'abbassta niente e cchiù n'amma sapè nun simmo maje cuntenti e intanto maggio se ne va ce resta 'o friddo ma quaccosa è allero maggio se ne va avanza 'o pede..."