Silvio M. Cantoro
La Notte della Taranta vista dal [basso]

It was a mild winter evening when in a small southern village - in the heart of the Grecìa Salentina - there was a discussion about organizing a concert - to be held in August - to celebrate Salento's folk music. None of those present (including Sergio Blasi, author of the preface, and Sergio Torsello, to whom the book is dedicated) could have ever imagined that this concert would become, in a few years, one of the most important Folk Music gatherings in Europe and the world. The concert had the ambition to bring together on a single stage several musicians (of folk music) hosted by Daniele Sepe, who has always been a researcher of the musical traditions of Southern Italy. It was the following year - August 1999 - that the author of the book came on the scene and for 14 editions would be one of the members of the Notte della Taranta Ensemble; hence the title “La Notte della Taranta vista dal [basso]”.
Silvio Maria Cantoro, born in '67, like many teenagers in the '80s, dreamed of playing on stage with the greats of music. Over the years, reality surpassed the dream. Silvio Cantoro, the Franco Baresi of the Bass (as defined by Piero Milesi), shared not only the stage but also joys, dinners, anxieties, and laughs with greats of international music: Joe Zawinul (Weather Report) in 2000, Stewart Copeland (Police) in 2003, Phil Manzanera (Roxy Music) in 2015, just to name a few.
Dates, photos, and anecdotes flow along with many memories; like when for example, in the third edition directed by Zawinul, the latter complimented Silvio, saying “You have a good sound” the author writes “I would have liked to organize a press conference to tell it.” Here in this statement one can perceive the enthusiasm and great irony that will accompany all the pages of the book.

The book is - as the subtitle mentions - a backstage diary, recounting year after year from 1999 to 2015 the human and artistic relationships of many of the “cathedral builders”, indispensable for the cultural and human growth of each one of us, even if sometimes we think of ourselves as simple “stonecutters”.

The book is available on Amazon, Feltrinelli, Mondadori.it, Google Books. Upon request in paperback or hardcover format.