Francesco Bruno signs his mediterranean
dance upon the rhytms of the latinamerican sound
https://bfan.link/zakynthos
" Zàkynthos" AlfaMusic (2023)
“The language of jazz knows no geographical or temporal boundaries, it is the strongest
wind I know, capable with its strength to cross the cultures from all over the world,
sweeping away any dogma or prejudice, remaining alive and always renewing itself
thanks to this freedom of expression that I love and that has always inspired my projects.”
Zàkynthos is the new project of guitarist and composer Francesco Bruno, which draws
inspiration from imaginary tales carried by the winds of the world. The title refers to the
island of Zàkynthos (Zante), in the Mediterranean, where the wind rose was placed in
the first geographical maps. Eight original compositions that take into account the
influences of the Mediterranean basin and Latin American music, with a careful look
at the infinite contaminations that bring the language of modern jazz to life.
The project was born around the melodic writing style that has always distinguished
the productions of Francesco Bruno, who today chooses the minimal dimension of the
Jazz acoustic trio to interpret them. The guitar is in the center of this narration and
has its roots in the traditional jazz lexicon evolving into new forms of expression
without ever abandoning communication and empathy with the listener.
Alongside Francesco Bruno two very valid musicians, the drummer Marco Rovinelli and
the double bass player Andrea Colella, capable of giving life to a fascinating interplay
with the guitarist in every track of the album.
The album will be released by AlfaMusic in july 2023 and presented at major jazz festivals.
The guitarist and composer Francesco Bruno presents a new project that arises from the
collaboration with the actress and singer Silvia Lorenzo. The project starts from a common
desire to rediscover some of the most fascinating melodies that have become part of the
musical tradition handed down from various countries of the Mediterranean basin and
beyond, whose origins are still often unknown today.
Rediscovered simple melodies and lean verses that speak to us about love in its infinite
forms, of passions that know neither time nor geographical boundaries. The selected songs
belong to the Italian, French, Sephardi, Israeli and Brazilian traditions.
The project differs from a simple operation of musical archeology, as the melodic cells,
extrapolated from their traditional harmonic context, serve as a starting point for Francesco
Bruno to give life to real extended compositions projecting these traditional themes into the
jazz language, that by definition, is born and handed down, renewing itself in a continuous
evolution.
A stylistic crossover in which Silvia Lorenzo's voice and interpretative theatricality
manages to excite and be the protagonist of this journey between past and present with
indefinite boundaries and colors.
The ensemble sees the participation of the drummer Marco Rovinelli and the double bass
player Andrea Colella, two of the most appreciated jazz musicians in Rome - Italy
Francesco Bruno approaches again a melodic universe interpreted by a female voice, after
having written in the 80s many songs that have become evergreen today for the Neapolitan
singer Teresa de Sio.
The CD will be released by the ALFAMUSIC label and presented in
major Italian jazz festivals this year.
Blue Sky Above The Dreamers
Francesco Bruno present his latest project “Blue sky above the dreamers” accompanied by three of the greatest jazz players on the Italian jazz scene, pianist Pierpaolo Principato, drummer Marco Rovinelli and bass player Luca Bulgarelli. The cd also see’s the participation of Javier Girotto on saxophone and Aldo Bassi on trumpet.
Eight original compositions with melodic and harmonic textures that express a constant alternation of joy and pain, hope and disillusionment , nostalgia and a look towards the future. A renewed dimension of acoustic jazz, in which the desire to seek a Latin inspiration can be found bonded together with other cultures in such a way as to go beyond the borders of geographical and artistic identity.
Liner notes have been written by Adam Baruch, one of the world's leading authorities on Jazz Music, author for leading jazz magazines, such us "Down Beat", "Jazz Journal International", "jazz forum", "Jazz News International", and many others. Adam published over 5,000 album reviews in many publications and on his music-related Internet site "Soundtrack Of My Life" visited by more than eight milion persons.
This concert will also see a selection of songs coming from the former CD “Witam”, which features international guests such as Piotr Vojtasik on trumpet, Sylwester Ostrowski on saxophone and Makoto Kuryia on piano.During the last few years Francesco Bruno has been playing quite a lot in Poland with various formations achieving a great success. To be remembered are the ones at the Katowice Jazz Festival and the Polish Radio Witold Lutosławski Concert Hall in Warsaw in the setting of the Singer Jazz festival in 2016 and a recent participation in the project “Remember” at the Szczecin Jazz Festival in March 2018.
Francesco Bruno Ensemble
" Remember" tribute to Primo Levi
The idea of the project was born from Prof. Adam Baruch of Israel and the Italian guitarist and composer Francesco Bruno, developing it together with video maker Iginio De Luca into a live multimedia performance that acts as a tribute and commemorates the great author and poet Primo Levi.
The show has been successfully presented at the 2018 edition of Szczecin Jazz festival and 2016 Singer Jazz Festival in Warsav.
The reading of poems belonging to the author and chemist from Piedmont Italy, who has offered one of the most important testimonies regarding the tragic reality of the lager in “If This Is a Man “(1947) in which he describes his experience as a deported Jewish in Auschwitz, is being brought on stage along with musical compositions and videos all inspired by Primo Levi’s poetic universe.
Poetry, music and video art creations all giving voice, through the language of art, to the testimony and to the plea for peace of this great poet. The show is introduced by Prof. Adam Baruch, giving the audience biographic and historical notes regarding the writer Primo Levi.
Primo Michele Levi (31 July 1919 – 11 April 1987) was an Italian Jewish chemist, writer, and Holocaust survivor. He was the author of several books, novels, collections of short stories, essays, and poems. His best-known works include If This Is a Man (1947) (U.S.: Survival in Auschwitz), his account of the year he spent as a prisoner in the Auschwitz concentration camp in Nazi-occupied Poland; and his unique work, The Periodic Table (1975), linked to qualities of the elements, which the Royal Institution of Great Britain named the best science book ever written. Among the thousands of survivors who have written about their experiences, Levi's work stands out for its understanding of the human condition and philosophical exploration of the polarities of good and evil Publisher Liveright edited ‘The Complete Works of Primo Levi’ on 10 September 2015: Primo Levi's entire body of work, newly translated, in three editions, with an introduction by Nobel Laureate Toni Morrison.
To remember what caused the pain is an awareness of one’s feeling, it is constant surveillance and is memory that brings back attention. And is indispensable when this danger is still among us, when signals change form and color but reflect the same characteristics that have been seen in the past. Whatever is different from “we” is constantly seen as an enemy. The word “we” often brings to mind thousands of adjectives like whites, Christians, men, Brahman, European, workers, artists…
Race, caste, religion, sex, ethnicity, different color of the skin within the same ethnic group (the albino’s in Africa), any element that allows you to bond around the word “we”, determines a different kind of “we”, an antagonist that when necessary, can easily become the enemy.
Therefore we must REMEMBER.
Remember the infinite moments of oversight, underestimatimation of the signals, lack of depth in our voice, so that we can focus our attention on where it’s necessary. Art, poetry and music. Fundamental elements in sustaining the energy necessary to not let one’s guard down. Music as rhythm that accompanies our will to clamp down on all the deviations that seem initially foolish, but always ready to assume unimaginable aspects, unfortunately.
A music that accompanies a determination to ensure that academic simplification leaves room to mature reflection. A music that promotes and sustains the co-operation among different necessities, but each essential individually. Just like harmonic tensions in every composition, they alternate to give life to music itself. “Foreign” music that does not belong to any community. It is, as all art is, ethereal, intangible, far away from the suffering of the flesh. It goes beyond the chain at the bottom of which the Lager is found and precisely for this reason is able to give voice to the man in revolt4 (L’uomo in rivolta by Albert Camus) that can be found in each witness of history that repeats itself.
The art of music as a background for the art of poetry by Primo Levi.
CAST:
Adam Baruch – introduction, biographic and historical notes regarding the writer Primo Levi
Francesco Bruno – original compositions, arrangements, guitar
Silvia Lorenzo – reading and vocals
Marco Rovinelli – drums
Luca Bulgarelli – double bass
Iginio De luca – video art creations in cooperation with Giovanni Bruno
and the students of Art Academy of Frosinone
Donatella Salta - project coordinator
Directed by Francesco Bruno and Iginio De Luca
Angela Terzani Staude & Francesco Bruno Ensemble
"Le Parole Altre.Il lungo viaggio di Tiziano Terzani"
Angela Terzani Staude and the Francesco Bruno Ensemble in
“The other words- The long voyage of Tiziano Terzani”
The show:
The long voyage of the life of Tiziano Terzani, one of the greatest Italian writers and a passionate commentator of his time, enthusiastic researcher of the truth and one of the most lucid, progressive and non violent minds of the beginning of the XXI century.
A multimedia voyage brought to the stage and traced like a dream, between music and images , in a concert/event where the compositions by composer Francesco Bruno embrace the multiple expressions of modern jazz, guiding the listener through the places , sounds and history of the people that played a central role in the life of the great journalist and writer and his idea of peace.
Africa, Siberia, China, Vietnam, America Latina, India and United States, narrated by artists that with this original and imaginative project, describe the long voyage of Tiziano Terzani as if inside a dream of theirs with sounds and images . With other words.
Angela Terzani Staude narrates Tiziano’s voyage by commentating some un published videos in which he tackles some of the greatest questions that humanity tries to answer. The guitarist Francesco Bruno , composer and arranger of the music , plays with musicians of the calibre of Luca Bulgarelli, Pierpaolo Principato, Iginio de Luca and Tommaso Carlini. On the back of the stage there is a maxi screen on which many images scroll , images that have been captured in all parts of the world and presented as artistic videos by Giovanni Bruno.
The show lasts 90 minutes and can be held in theatres and arenas.
