And it's gonna be played at the Guitar Marathon: Bell'Italia, the last event of a classical guitar festival in New York City, hosted by the one and only Eliot Frisk (for the New Yorker, the king of American classical guitar). There are gonna be two concerts, one at 2PM and one at 7PM in the Upper East, and the program is particularly promising.
As I was saying, most people think that all that Italians ever did in music was Operas. Nonetheless there is a lot more to it, and I would like to take this chance to highlight another aspect that is often unconsidered.
Italians folk music - especially the southern one - is a milestone of ethnomusicology. Quite amazingly the references for this statement are again linked to New York, in quite an obscure but interesting way. You might have heard the name of Alan Lomax, especially if you belong to one of the following categories:
- ethnomusicologists;
- Bob Dylan's fan;
- American;
That guy lived in New York for a long time - and one of his earlier book refers to a travel in Italy where he was shocked by Italian music. The book is L'Anno piu' felice della mia vita (The Happiest Year of My Life), which happens to be prefaced by Martin Scorsese.
So even if you're righfully proud of American music culture, observe that even one of Bob Dylan's friends, and probably the most relevant American ethnomusicoligist was astonished by Italian folk music.
Cheers,
Guido.
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