Fiamma Fumana Official WebSite

Festival website

Radio Popolare has started a show in which they ask “established” artists to recommend up-and-coming ones. When they asked me for one such recommendation, I was in trouble, because there are many young artists I like: for example Gianluca Lo Presti, who made a wonderful record earlier this year. I chose Davide Zilli because he will soon perform in Milano (December 5th at Arci Biko) and I thought if someone hears his music on he radio and likes it has a chance to make the show. So I recommended Davide, and Radiopop aired my recommendation and his Jazzabbestia, which is totally untranslatable into English but great fun. I’m going to the show, anyway.

It all ended up with Lady Jessica going over to MEI for the Imola in musica award ceremony, and being welcomed by a kind man working for the festival direction called Franco Benni. Funny, thinks Lady J, he has the same last name as Melchiade Benni. And no surprise: it is his son! General commotion. Many times, on stage, we have evoked Melchiade from Monghidoro, saint protector of Emilian folk music, especially when you can dance to it! We even dedicated to him a set of traditional tunes, “The return of Melchiade” (Franco did not know about this). It will be beautiful, next June, to perform in Melchiade’s homeland, before his son: FF’s folk, after much travelling, is going home.

Amazing. A kind gentleman who worls for the Imola city council called me to break the news: we have won the Imola in Musica award, conceived to celebrate “the crossing over from the tradition of Emilia Romagna to contemporary music genres”. That’s us all right! The award consists of a trophy, which will be given to us on Novembre 23rd at Masini Theatre in Faenza (it is the opening ceremony for MEI 2007 (Lady Jessica will represent us all, taking a welcome break from studio work); and of an invitation to perform at the next Imola in Musica Festival, in June 2008. A nice surprise! Our thanks to the judges, and congratulations to the City of Imola for a brilliant idea.

As anticipated, I’d like to tell you more about this show with Cisco and Giovanni Rubbiani. It’s very simple, really: since Cisco left Modena City Ramblers too he got us involved in his solo project, as songwriters and authors. We still really enjoy making music together, or simply hanging out together, after all these years! So I got Cisco and Gio involved in the last phase of a European development project that my company is doing in Pescara. We will prepare and perform a show together with the students of a training programme for young creatives. Performance day will be Saturday, December 1st. In between the show we will claim a little space to play some music as an acoustic trio, just Cisco, Giovanni and me. It will be a good excuse to spend some time together.

Fiamma Fumana are taking a break: we do not intend to play any more shows before 2008. Many people are asking me “So, what are you doing now?”

Lady Jessica, maybe inspired by Martyn Bennett, is producing an album of Arezzo folksongs generously sprinkled with elecronica, commissioned by IMAIE. She is using field-recorded vocal samples of farmers and craftsmen (maybe the same recordings made by Diego Carpitella and Alan Lomax over 50 years ago?), She is producing, and - if I’m not mistaken - ex-Fiamma Fumana Marco Bertoni will also be involved in mixing and mastering. I don’t know a lot more than this, I hope she’ll give us more details herself on this blog.

Roberta is very busy recording, too, In her case, she is recording no less than her first - and long overdue - solo album. We talk a lot about the songs, and she has played some for us (I’m a fan anyway, I used to go her shows even before she joined FF), but here, too, I prefer it is her to write about it.

Medhin is in a photography-and-commitment period: she is active in a NGO called G2, which rallies second-generation immigrants, those born in Italy of immigrant families. I think it’s a great idea, and I hope it does well. In fact I’d like to help out somehow.

Paolo is working in his own studio. Among other things, he is speaking about a project of N.O.A. with Fondazione Andrea Pazienza.

Me? I’m preparing a nice little show with two old friends, Cisco and Giovanni Rubbiani. I’ll write about this in a separate post.