Tavernanova
Taverna Nova

”…songs of land, of love, and of other
inimitable ‘trifles’.
The right spirit, that of this Italy
that moves between pagan rituals
and Virgilian paths
at the center of the simplicity
that we have forgotten…
The right spirit, this of the interweaving
of modern sounds and ancient rhythms…"

E. Sisti

There are emotions that are not always easy to explain.
Even more arduous is to attempt to explain the intrinsic value of a tradition.

But if we transform tradition into notes, sounds, voices, and colors, the emotion is more immediate.
It is direct.

The debut album of Tavernanova draws heavily from the vast popular tradition of Apulia and Corato, birthplace of the musical octet, and gives us fragments of daily life of the almost vanished southern peasant civilization.
It's like flipping through an album of black-and-white photos glued onto pages of overly yellowed cardboard that smells of the past. It's the family album where roots and memories are jealously preserved, exhibited with pride once more to allow the illusion of reliving a past composed of simplicity and modesty that is far too distant.

It's smelling the citrus incense in the air.
It's the memory of scraping legs while kicking a rag ball on the street.
It's beaten earth. Sweat on the brow. Exhausted horses and baskets of freshly picked fruit.

From a purely musical point of view, Tavernanova boasts a respected ensemble whose foundation is based on classical studies and influences (consider the guitars of Aldo De Palma, highly skilled in loops, or the keyboards of Rino Mazzilli), jazz (bassist Pierluigi Balducci is its maximum expression, boasting collaborations with Luis Sepulveda, Sarah Jane Morris, Roberto Ottaviano, and Ernst Reijseger), and ethnic (thanks also to the warm percussion of Cesare Pastanella). All of this is expertly channeled into a unique sound, refined and satisfying. Even for the most demanding ears.

The result is a complex elaboration of sounds and traditional melodies that are accompanied with a pressing rhythm to the dialectical musicality typical of the north of Bari, generated by the skill in text writing of Rino Mazzilli and Franco Quatela.

In short, an excellent album, without any compromise towards commerciality. Simply an extreme desire to make music. Highly recommended for those who appreciate traditional-folk music.

Accattatiue, uaglio’