May harmony and joy greet you! Buon Natale! Merry Christmas! Ti mando armonia e gioia!
Tag: tambourine
The Most Awesome Day: Taranta Sicily Fest
If I could dream up the most awesome day, this would be it: August 20 in Scicli, the The Taranta Sicily Fest: A Tarantella music and dance festival in Sicily!!!! And the headliner is one of my favorite Italian artists and the leader of the Taranta Power movement: Eugenio Bennato. I mean, seriously. My two…
Full Circle
Sieves, like the one shown, have been used for generations to aid the olive and almond harvests (just to name two examples of when it’s used) by straining dirt and other particles out from fruit that has fallen to the ground. When we see an antique sieve next to a tamburello, or Italian frame drum…
Ceramic Duo
Ceramic figurines with tambourine and guitar, Museo Etnografico Giuseppe Pitrè, Palermo.
It’s a Symbiotic Relationship
In the beginning of October, Ragusa celebrated the 20th annual “Ibla Buskers Festa di Artisti di Strada.” The Baroque city’s piazzas were full of musicians, circus performers, artists, and–probably most important, spectators. The Associazione Culturale Edrisi and ibla Buskers aims to illustrate the symbiotic relationship between performers and audience and the best street art in…
Alfio is Meraviglioso
Words cannot describe how emotional and engaging our visit with musician and artist Alfio Antico was this morning! We stayed at his home away from home, the agriturismo Borgo Nocchiara in the shadow of Mount Etna, where we spent a glorious three hours talking about music and the inspiration from Mother Earth.
Private Serenade
Last night, we enjoyed a private house concert by a trio of musicians from Casteldaccia who performed traditional Sicilian and Southern Italian folk songs for us on my cousin Evelina’s patio. Fiorenza, Raffaele, and Ettore were fabulous. They even were gracious enough to play three of my songs with me! As a group we enjoyed…
Alfio Antico, Shepherd to Performing Artist
Percussionist and composer Alfio Antico grew up as a shepherd in the mountains not far from Siracusa. As a child, he learned great respect for the Earth and was inherently connected to his flock of 600 sheep. These roots, along with the influence of his grandmother, created a deep wisdom that he now expresses through…
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…
Music is Everywhere
Nymph with tambourine, from a fresco in Palermo’s Palazzo dei Normanni, the house of Sicily’s parliament.