Michele Bonifati EMONG

Emong, a quartet composed of Evita Polidoro on drums, Manuel Caliumi on saxophone, Michele Bonifati on guitar and Federico Pierantoni on trombone, is Michele Bonifati’s first project as bandleader.

The name of the project derives from a particular model of kite (a passion that Michele has been cultivating for years, while practicing in areas characterized by constant lack of wind) capable of flying in weak, almost absent, wind conditions. With these kites the wind is replaced by the force exerted by the kite flyer on the line. The gestures transmit direction to the kite inducing the movement that will lead him to glide; a slow and calibrated flight made of wavy and circular movements, different from hovering at great heights. A choice therefore, which enhances slow time, the desire to stay close and present, to dive deep rather than distance yourself, but without giving up the gesture of raising your head towards the sky. Aspects to which is given further importance through the title of the album, that will be released in 2023: “Three knots”. The three knots, intended as a unit of measurement of the wind, is the necessary quantity of wind that allows an Emong to make a wide flight , hovering far from the ground but slow and constant in its evolutions, like the road that led the group to the creation of this first album.

The group plays original music composed by Michele Bonifati with the exception of two songs, one by John Lennon and one by Rage Against The Machine, sung by Evita Polidoro, chosen to complete the narrative and sound horizon of this group.
The choice of an unusual lineup, together with the peculiarities of the repertoire, enhances the mobility of the roles of the members of the group to create a unitary and cohesive and at the same time fluid and elusive sound that ranges among the many influences that have contributed in defining the musical identity of these musicians: jazz, electronic music, rock, American folk and much more.