Radiodervish
Centro del mundo

Again this time, as with Acustimantico, there are no other reviews. So I’m diving headfirst into introducing you to the Radiodervish and, above all, their album "Centro del mundo".

The Radiodervish emerged from the ashes of Al Darawish in 1997, in Bari. Their music is a blend of Mediterranean/Oriental sounds that traverse cultures and traditions from around the world, intertwining languages (Italian, French, Arabic...) and melodies that embrace the human being with tolerance and compassion, no matter their thoughts, color, or substance. Their music brings forth calmness, reflection, universal peace, and serene coexistence among diversities.

"Centro del mundo", the album through which their success finally gains public approval, is an album full of love, which you can sense from the very first listen. It exudes tenderness, spirituality, emotion, and even nostalgia. Italian singer-songwriter songs and traditional Arabic songs perfectly blend together in the album, almost as if they were all tied by the unbreakable sense of belonging to multi-ethnicity. Man and his emotions are the "center of the world", man and his love for woman, for the earth, for reconciliation. Everything that the notes touch transforms into a state of grace, in which words, pianos, violins, guitars (the special guest on the album is Massimo Zamboni) float lightly suspended. Harmony dances with mysticism, and they dance beautifully together. When you listen to the song "L'esigenza", for example, you want to whirl around on your bare feet, like a Sufi dancer, first slowly, then, as the string quartet rises... stronger and stronger, until you touch, barely graze other fingers... until any distance between yourself and everything else is erased. It is often said that they deliver wonderful concerts around Italy; indeed, they frequently perform live, this year, I believe for the first time, they also played at the May Day concert at S. Giovanni (they sang in Arabic and Italian "Tu si 'na cosa grande", dedicating it to Domenico Modugno); yes, they often play live, perhaps to create that "contact" that otherwise could not be established with the audience, considering their albums, perhaps only now, are available in stores and megastores, whereas until recently, could only be found in certain specific bookstores or at various leftist parties (why does it always happen like this!). It’s not nice that certain music always remains confined in a niche, labeled as "music for a few". Like all beautiful things, they should be proudly shown to the whole world. In 1998, the Radiodervish also won the Ciampi award, with the album "Lingua contro lingua", which is now unavailable (there should be reprints around, since May 2005).

Thank you Nabil Salameh, thank you, "miele nel vino".