After the opening on Friday 11 October with the extraordinary Aymée Nuviola and his new Timba Jazz project, the twenty-first Autumn Festival will continue with its weekend dedicated to the great Jazz, designed specifically for all fans of the genre, with international guests of global fame scheduled for a grand total of three concerts and two masterclasses, as strongly desired by the artistic director Antonietta Santacroce. On Saturday 12th, in fact, the Festival will be divided into three.
The first scheduled appointment is at 6pm at the Cloister of the San Giovanni monumental complex where there will be the national preview debut – after the one atAmersfoort Jazz Festival last August – of the project “Chick Corea: a Spanish heart”, a real tribute dedicated to the exceptional pianist of Calabrian origins – from Albi to be precise – who recently passed away. The show is a co-production of the Autumn Festival together with the Amersfoort Jazz Festival and the Sicilia Jazz Fest and will be a journey into Corea’s music, through stories and anecdotes from his life in an original production conceived and created by Fabio Iannino and Salvatore Bonafede. Bringing “A Spanish heart” to the stage will be an orchestral ensemble led by Bonafede himself – a pianist and composer from Palermo with numerous awards to his credit, as well as collaborations with Rai, in the theater (Venice Biennale), for the soundtracks at cinema (he also received a nomination for the Nastri d’argento) -, who also composed the original music for the project. The original lyrics are partly by Chick Corea, partly by Fabio Lannino, also Sicilian, member of the Sicilian Jazz Orchestra Foundation and director of the Real Teatro Santa Cecilia in Palermo, among the numerous activities carried out by the bassist. In addition to Bonafede on piano and Lannino on bass, there will be members of the ensemble Laura Sfilio as narrator and singer, Giuseppe Urso on drums, Germano Seggio on guitar, Alessandro Laura on sax, Tommaso Lannino on the piano. The music that will be performed is by Chick Corea, Salvatore Bonafede and Fabio Lannino.
Also on October 12th, in the evening, at 9pm, we will move to the Politeama Theater where there will be another unmissable appointment with “Mater”, a unique event which will see three world-famous artists take the stage. There will be the legendary Indian percussionist Trilok Gurtu, the Cuban pianist Omar Sosa and “our” Maria Pia De Vito, one of the most versatile and appreciated voices on the Italian musical scene, who will accompany spectators on a musical journey inspired by the cult of the Mother Goddess , through a fusion of jazz, world music and ethnic influences: «The idea of “Mater” is from Maria Pia and is based on the need to give the right attention to the women who have a decisive role in the life of the whole world, the mothers – explained Sosa – Without them there would be none of us. And we decided to translate all this by putting together our traditions, the Cuban one, the Neapolitan one and also the Indian one.”
«I thought that the common thread that connects these traditions is much deeper – explained De Vito -, it is a trace that we can find in the many Indian deities, of fertility, of creativity, and then again with the Orishas, the goddesses of the Yoruba of Cuban cults, with ours Mater Matuta of Capua, and the Black Madonna who is a welcoming Madonna who does not reject anyone. It seemed like a very nice track to me, I talked about it with Omar and we immediately got to work: it all seemed very suitable at a time when we seem to be moving forward for gender equality, but we are going backwards with all the feminicides and the horrible things that women can be victims of, then even more so at this time with all these senseless wars, as only wars can be.”
The concert will be preceded, in the foyer on the first floor of the Politeama Theatre, at 7.30 pm by a meeting with Omar Sosa and Maria Pia De Vito open to all those who have purchased a ticket for the concert who will be able to meet the pianist and the singer in person, deepening their knowledge of the world of world music and jazz: «From this concert you should expect a great amount of fun and improvisational exchange – De Vito had the opportunity to say -, a great display of rhythm in its declinations: you can imagine what can happen between Naples, Cuba and India, but there will also be lyricism and poetry». «The real surprise will be in the music – added Sosa -, in Jazz which is freedom: it is that music that manages to unite all types of other music».