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***CALABRIA MIA BAND***
*** NEW LINE UP, NEW SHOW***
***LIVE IN CONCERT 2009***
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If the only new music you've heard out of Italy recently has come from Andrea Boccelli or Laura Pausini, then you've been missing out on one of Europe's best-kept secrets. Over the last few years Italian musicians have been reconnecting to their regional traditions in increasing numbers, auguring a full-blown musical risorgiomento (resurgence). Thanks to a handful of recent high-profile releases, Italian roots and regional music has even made a splash on the international scene--going a long way towards erasing Italy's reputation as a principal producer of cheesy Europop. Italian roots artists are also becoming an increasingly common features on the European and North American summer festival circuits. But while this resurgence of traditional and roots music is taking place all over the Italian peninsula, the most fertile musical regions are in the South, in the fabled Mezzogiorno--the sunbaked territories South of Rome.

Comprised of the Abruzzi, Campania, Basilicata, Puglia, and Calabria regions as well as the islands of Sicily and Sardinia, the Mezzogiorno--which translates as "midday," a reference to the strong Mediterranean sun--holds a special place in the Italian imagination. Northerners often characterize it as backward, underdeveloped, poor, corrupt, lawless, and anarchic. While there is some truth behind these stereotypes, the Mezzogiorno's native inhabitants instead pride themselves on their independence, self-reliance, passion, tenacity and--not least--honor. In many ways, the Southern regions are a nation apart; not surprising given that Italy wasn't a unified political entity until 1870. But the roots of Southern difference run much deeper; most of these regions' large towns and cities--including Naples and Siracusa--trace their origins back to ancient Greek, rather than native Italian, colonists. The Greek influence predated the rise of Rome--the Romans themselves referred to the region as "Magna Grecia," or "Greater Greece"--and the Greek cultural influence stills runs deep in the culture today (as does an antipathy to Rome's central authority). To further complicate the picture, the regions have seen a succession of foreign invaders since the Roman era--from the Arabs and Normans in Sicily in the Middle Ages, to Napoleon's armies and the Spanish Bourbon dynasty in the modern era. All of these occupiers left the inhabitants of the Mezzogiorno with a healthy lack of respect for government and authority; themes that resonate loudly in the music made there today.

Surprisingly, the music of the Mezzogiorno isn't at all foreign to American ears. Historically, these regions' greatest export has been its people, and the majority of Italian-Americans can trace their ancestry back to emigrants who left Campania, Basilicata, Puglia, Calabria and Sicily in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Naturally, these immigrants brought their music--and not only that of the Opera. Vernacular ballads and sing-alongs were immensely popular in the theaters and music halls that catered to immigrants, and they eventually entered the American popular imagination as the broad "dialect songs" popularized by Vaudeville. In fact, two of the most recognizable Italian-American favorites, "O Sole Mio" and "Funiculi Funicula," originated in Naples and were immortalized in immigrant dance halls from New York to New Orleans. While some might scoff at the dialect singers and their descendants, it's important to keep in mind that almost all of the great Italian-American popular singers--from Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Perry Como to Louis Prima, Jerry Vale and Lou Monte--can trace their roots back to Southern Italy.

Calabria, one of the wildest and least-traveled regions of Italy. Of all the peoples of the Mezzogiorno, Calabrians are the most independent and insular--traditionally cut off from the rest of the peninsula by steep mountains and a dialect that's nearly incomprehensible to Northerners.


Calabrian music has its own unique tradition and is rooted in songs about peasant life in the feudal system and all it entails--sung in Calabrese accompanied by Calabrian instruments.

It is music of the people, by the people, for the people, so to speak, and tells stories of both hope and hopelessness--common conflicting emotions for many Calabresi throughout the centuries.

Traditional Calabrian folk music has some common elements: high, strong vocals, a catchy, nearly hypnotic rhythm, and a bittersweet raw passion with any combination of tambourine, guitar, chitarra battente, accordion, zampogna (bagpipes), lira, mandolin, drums and more. The song rhythm you'll hear often is the tarantella, a traditional southern Italian folk dance that was performed by female victims of spider bites to rid themselves of the venom.