WOMAD

Enzo Avitabile & Bottari

From Italy

In the medieval haciendas and homesteads of southern Italy, farmers used to beat barrels to exorcise evil spirits from their barns and cellars. As so often happens, this very practical exercise turned into a ritual and eventually into a distinct musical culture, with entire villages turning out to chase spirits away from their fields, lead by a beat master or capopattuglia. Think of a Mediterranean equivalent to the Drummers of Burundi, with a little of The Ghostbusters mixed in. This ancient tradition has been kept alive in one particular southern Italian village called Portico, with young disciples learning the rhythms from the old Bottari or barrel beaters. It was to Portico that Enzo Avitabile, a Neapolitan musician of some fame in Italy who has previously worked with James Brown, Tina Turner and Randy Crawford amongst others, turned for a trip back to his roots. He worked with the Bottari of Portico for three long years, incorporating their primal barrel rhythms into a hi-energy mix, which included jazz, blues, the voices of the Brotherhood of the SS Crucifix and an ancient southern Italian vocal styles called canto a fronna. Word of this intriguing project soon got out and artists like Khaled, Amina, Hugh Massakela and Manu Dibango all begged Enzo to be allowed to contribute. It’s certainly one of the most unexpected and entrancing global music adventures of 2004. A CD is out now on Wrasse Records.