A few priceless moments I brought back from Italy:
1. The perfect silence descending on Milan (and the rest of the country) when a world cup game begins. You think absolute silence is that hiatus in sound preceding a storm? Think again: think my team, on a field, as the first notes of our national anthem are played (and on another note: to all German fans in the stadium who booed it, well, see the finger?)
2. Umbria, for Terni jazz.
The music: check out bassist Michel Benita's latest cd, "Drastic" > when jazz meets electronica and they actually shake hands. I asked him what were his sources of inspiration, he replied: Aphex Twin, Squarepusher, Amon Tobin, DJ Krush, Matthew Herbert, Massive Attack, Autechre, Murcof (absolutely great minimalistic house/ambient check it out if you haven't yet), Telefon Tel Aviv, Talvin Singh... His performance at the Terni amphitheater was absolutely stunning. What is also stunning is the fact that he only started dabbing in electronica one year ago.
The music #2: Maria Joao > her performances are like exorcisms, her voice ranges from child-like whimsical blabbers to guttural shrieks, with moments of intense, poetic, lyrical, stunningly beautiful phrasing. She puts on a show, dances, gestures, very dramatic diva is she. This time, though, she was aided by a very special effect: the "Marmore" waterfall, first started by the Romans, now commanded by a switch, it started pouring water as soon as she hit the last note. The stage was just a few meters from it, we were handed raincoats and watched mist and music dissolve in the night...
The people: went to Collescipoli, a small town near Terni, built atop a hill in Umbria, fortified, with a few hundred souls. That's where the jazz magazine I write for has its headquarters, believe it or not. That's where my editor-in-chief rents a whole turret for 600 Euros a month and gets to enjoy a view like this:
The people #2: it was like building a new family in 4 days. Such great people, so welcoming and generous and fun! And so in love with jazz! Operating hours where 9am-4am. All the time, we'd be listening to a concert, a cd preview, a conference or workshop, eating, drinking, laughing out loud. Really, what more could I possibly want? Well, maybe... Rome...>>>
3. Rome: I can't wait to go back. And to eat more of that coffee granita with vanilla gelato E. made me try. I owe him one. Well actually more than one: what did I just say about very interesting encounters, hehe?
4. Liguria: freshly baked focaccia at 8am on the way back from my run, fritto misto, more gelato, pesto. Watching Italy's game with Croatia in a bar on a caruggio (Liguria's typical alleys), sun sun sun (I'm the color of burnt caramel, in some areas at least), THE SEA.
The only place where you can enjoy a private moment in your hotel room, with your camera, oblivious to the world only to look out of the window and see a nun, wearing white and staring at you (she was washing the banister of a balcony: the minute after she gave this sly wicked smile, winked, looked left and right and swwwwwosh! she emptied her bucket of dirty water on the street! Was it a code message for me?).
The day after, another nun, dressed in black, was hanging her laundry in the sun, while chanting "Hail Mary".
The only place where people can afford to be terribly blase' about their Ferraris, parking them next to trash bins. After all, we make Ferraris.
Since I opened with silence, let me close with it as well. Here's where I ate on my last night there, the so- called "bay of silence", "baia del silenzio".
Ain't it somethig? Enjoy the silence.
