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Rating: It was interesting to follow the musical, personal, and artistic journey presented by Sergio Laccone who, with his band and the friendly participation of Tony Esposito, performed on June 28th at the Rocca dei Borgia in Nepi (VT), during the IV edition of the Stagione Borgiana, a summer megacontainer of concerts, shows, festivals, experiments, and new musical and theatrical proposals.
Laccone, who, let's remember, has several CDs to his credit, TV appearances in musical broadcasts, concerts in Italy and abroad, prestigious collaborations with Mina, Renzo Arbore, Sergio Cammariere, Stefano Di Battista, and others, perhaps finds the label of World Music a bit restrictive, hastily attached to him on posters to define a genre that instead spans various musical styles. Certainly, his Puglian-Neapolitan background is very present in his repertoire and sounds, with the guitar taking the lead in the rhythmic and harmonic weaving of his songs, and the vocals echo similar experiments, starting from those of De Simone in Naples, and beyond. But there is also much more. There are sophisticated arrangements with jazz or funky echoes, vocal harmonizations with recognized folk roots, there is lexical attention in the lyrics, never banal or predictable, which increases the depth of the performance. His histrionic stage presence, more relaxed as the show unfolds, sees him interacting with the audience, dancing, moving from instrument to instrument, in a crescendo of involvement and playful complicity that never leaves the audience indifferent.
The concert in Nepi (VT) then saw the contribution of Tony Esposito, a pioneer of experimental percussion and sound in general, which, from Naples, has spread since the '80s to the national music scene. Appearing with his assorted collection of bongos, electronic pads, tamborder, vocoder, up to the polyphonic bivalve gong that intrigued the bystanders, Esposito, having paid the inevitable tribute of Kalimba de Luna, provided Laccone’s concert with that quid that expanded the sound spectrum, offering moments of wonder with each new sound and adding to what Laccone had accomplished so far an atmosphere of unrepeatability that captivated the spectator, almost making them aware of experiencing and listening to a unique performance, never repeatable or identical to itself.
Perhaps a little long-winded in some passages, almost as if trying to reach the promised two hours of music at any cost, the final part of the concert, however, saw bodies dancing in the audience, requests, and open applause. An enjoyable concert of great musical quality, which in this summer of 2011 we hope to encounter again and more and more often.
Worth remembering are the contributions of Ramon Gomes on keyboards, guitars, and vocals, Ivano Fortuna on drums and vocals, and Mimmo Catanzariti on bass.
Piero Poleggi
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