Jamu

The Calabrian-born, Naples–based singer and 12–string guitarist Massimo Ferrante has been on the go for more than two decades, exploring southern Italian folk and traditional repertoires. Jamu (Let’s Go) is the third album under his name. Ferrante’s perspective on traditional music is reflected in the choice of songs, the lyrics of which are still relevant to today’s listeners – a reminder of Italian history from a working– class perspective. There’s plenty going on in Jamu, with a few stylistic leaps in its ballads, dances, and protest songs. The opening and closing statement is ‘Lingua e Dialettu’ by the late Sicilian poet Ignazio Buttitta, with orchestration by Antonello Paliotti. Another remarkable piece from Buttitta’s pen is ‘Lamentu Pe la Morti di Turiddu Carnevali’, a lament for a trade unionist murdered by the Sicilian Mafia in 1955.

Ferrante’s passionate research unearths a song from a Calabrian community of Occitan descent and a caustic but well–wishing chant with a sharp contribution by electric guitarist Lutte Berg. Italian brass–band arrangements renovate the chant ‘Ari Cincu’ and a Caribbean touch transforms ‘I Fischi’, while Ferrante recalls ‘Ninnananna Joggese’ from memories of his own family’s singing. The spirited ‘U Monacu’ contains a clever jazz solo from Berg, and is followed by the rock– inflected ‘Tarantella Minore’. Further digging into the left–wing political songbook brings to light ‘Ha detto De Gasperi a Tutti i Divoti’, sung in cantastoria style (a theatrical form of song traditionally involving pictures), and ‘Tu Compagno’, which starts as a tammurriata dance before assuming acid and noise rock nuances. A politically committed and charmingly arranged traditional album.