Tag: music
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Stealing from Old Men in the Village
Calling upon the traditional work songs and sacred music they heard growing up in the small town of Sutera in the province of Caltanissetta, Lorenzo and Enzo Mancuso create “new-traditional” Sicilian roots music. Known internationally as Fratelli Mancuso, the duo mixes elements from Gregorian chant, Christian liturgical laments, Arabic and Byzantine lyrical prayers, and the…
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Let the Music Play
Ceramic figurines of a guitar player and a tamburello (tambourine) player as seen in the Sicilian Cart Museum in Palermo’s historic center.
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One of Italy’s Finest from Sicily
Singer-songwriter Carmen Consoli performed in her hometown of Catania on July 26, 2003. I photographed this poster in Taormina, earlier that summer.
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Dancing in the Street
Musicians and dancers from Santa Flavia’s Gruppo Folk Soluntum perform traditional Sicilian folks songs–here on tamburello (frame drum/tambourine), friscalettu (reed flute), and fisarmonica (accordion)–for a crowd of onlookers in Porticello.
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Let’s Celebrate with a Sicilian Tarantella
Let’s celebrate! It’s the first day of summer! Today, my band Villa Palagonia is participating in Make Music New York 2014 in New York City. And although we won’t be dressed like the dancers painted on this traditional tamburello that I photographed in a tailor shop in Palermo’s historic center, I will be playing my…
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Ancient Greek-era Lekythos in Sicily
This ancient Sicilian-Greek-era lekythos caught my eye because of the drummer and flute player depicted in its design. A lekythos is a specific shape of Greek pottery–narrow with one handle–that was used for storing olive oil c. 500 BC. They commonly showed men practicing rituals or daily tasks because it was a vessel used primarily…
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Mixing It Up in Sicily: Battle of the Bands in Caccamo
In June 2013, I heard this rock band in a battle of the bands contest in Caccamo, a medieval mountain town famous for its castle. They played “Jump” by Van Halen. The drummer Manuel is the teenage son of my cousin’s husband. He rocked the house. There’s always something new mixing it up in Sicily.
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Chiesa dello Spasimo, Palermo
Located in the historic Kalsa district, the roof-less Chiesa di Santa Maria dello Spasimo was once a church, but today it is one of Palermo’s most vibrant stages hosting theater and music performances.
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Bagherese Cart Drivers’ Songs
The singer on this cart is performing a traditional cart driver’s song (for a contemporary celebration). This photo was taken in Santa Flavia, near Bagheria. Bagheria is not only renowned for its tradition of building intricately decorated carts, but also for the tradition of virtuosic singing employed by the cart drivers. The drivers’ songs…