27 – Memorie
27 Memorie
Nicoletta Taricani
A journey into the folds of the feminine, a tribute to the value, creativity of an extraordinary artist in balance between tradition, innovation, and commitment.
The twenty-seventh production of nusica.org, a cultural association that supports and promotes innovative artists with the motto: “Developing Artists, Blossoming Music.”
Nicoletta Taricani’s new work, “Memorie,” will be released on March 18, 2024. The project is preceded by the release of the single “Letizia,” available from March 8.
Music, narration, and commitment intertwine in Nicoletta Taricani’s journey, a singer born in Sicily, now living in Udine, always attentive to contaminations as an artistic and social tool, a fundamental feature of her music and a reflection of the places she has experienced.
After her debut work “In un mare di voci” (2021), a social inclusion project focused on the dialogue between music and acting, the artist creates “Memorie,” an album full of suggestions and an evocative journey that reveals the sense of a search both human and intellectual, intimate and artistic.
Centered around the figure of Letizia Battaglia, the work represents for Nicoletta Taricani the opportunity to give substance to her idea of music, the belief that composing is equivalent to photographing, capturing what the eye sees in perfect balance with one’s inner horizon.
The album, scheduled for release on March 18 with the nusica.org label, is a musical portrait of the famous photojournalist, research that revolves around the key moments of her career, from shots of women and children to snapshots in the alleys of Palermo, from the years of terrorism to Mafia crimes.
Nine tracks tell a story, making experimentation, jazz, and folklore a terrain of artistic and cultural elaboration. Like in “Memorie,” where the noise of the streets, the cries of the people after the killing of Judge Falcone form the basis for a musical reportage. Or “Letizia,” characterized by the balance between popular sounds and modern elements, summarizing Battaglia’s attitude and Taricani’s artistic perspective.
The third single is “Real Casa dei matti,” a title that recalls the psychiatric hospital frequented by the photojournalist in contact with patients, who speak about loneliness and hope in the lyrics. “Le foto che non ho fatto” (The photos I didn’t take) and “Le bambine di Palermo” (The girls of Palermo) encapsulate the tension of Battaglia towards discovery, revealing the elements of wonder and investigation, combining simple melodies and frequent tempo changes.
“Comitato di lenzuoli” and “Palermo” give the sense of a place, narrating a multifaceted and dynamic city, between the sounds of bells and frenetic rhythms.
Claudia Grimaz, another woman, appears in the album; she is honored in the Serbian traditional song “Gusta mi magla padnala,” with which Taricani won the Grimaz Prize in 2023.
All compositions, except for the last one, were written and arranged by Nicoletta Taricani. Her voice is accompanied by Giulio Scaramella on the piano, Marco Donat on the violin, Romano Todesco on the accordion, Mattia Romano on the guitar, Alessio Zoratto on the double bass, and Umberto Odone on the drums.
Nicoletta Taricani was born in Syracuse in 1992 and has been living in Udine since 2004. She graduated from the “Jacopo Tomadini” Conservatory in Udine in October 2020 in jazz singing with Gluaco Venier and Alfonso Deidda. In March 2023, she obtained a second-level degree in jazz singing with top marks and honors from the “Giuseppe Tartini” Conservatory in Trieste, studying with Daniela Spalletta. Her debut album, “In un mare di voci” (2021), was presented with the collaboration of investigative journalist Fabrizio Gatti (Terzani Prize 2008): a cultural project of social integration that uses music and narration to tell the migrant journey in the Mediterranean.
Pure
The full album will be available for listening on-line from March 18th
01. MEMORIE: The audio preceding the melody carries the screams of people in the streets after the assassination of Judge Giovanni Falcone. In the outro, her voice can be heard.
Memorie-Score
02. LETIZIA: This track carries that popular sound I remember from my childhood spent in Sicily; in addition, there is a hint of modernity, and this, for me, represents Letizia Battaglia: an artist who knew well where she came from and never stopped offering her gaze to the future in a city overwhelmed and governed by a closed mentality.
Letizia-Score
03. REAL CASA DEI MATTI: It was a psychiatric hospital in Palermo where Letizia Battaglia spent time with patients using theater and cinema as a means of communication. Speaking in the lyrics is a patient. Almost until the end of the piece, the protagonist speaks of the loneliness he is subjected to. Only in the finale is a feeling of hope heard, thanks to Letizia offering her time in exchange for a smile: “There is a curtain waiting for me. Someone there listens to me.”
Real casa dei matti-Score
04. LE FOTO CHE NON HO FATTO: These are the photos that Letizia did not want to take (clashing with the demands of her job) because she had too much respect and affection for the victims. This prevented her from “processing” those mourning and photos that she carried within herself until the last day.
Le foto che non ho fatto-Score
05. LE BAMBINE DI PALERMO: In every photo of the girls of Palermo, there is a piece of Letizia. They are girls playing, walking, or who became women too soon. In their gazes, you can feel that sense of rebellion and retaliation that the Palermo-born photojournalist wanted to immortalize. The track is composed of a melody (a metaphor for the girls) of few and courageous notes, walking on a series of frequent tempo changes (a metaphor for the demanding reality in which the girls in the photos lived).
Le bambine di Palermo-Score
06. GUSTA MI MAGLA PADNALA: – a dense fog has descended. This is a song from the Serbian folk tradition, with which I wanted to pay tribute to the extraordinary Friulian singer Claudia Grimaz, who interpreted this song during her rich artistic career. It’s one of those pieces that, in my opinion, should be learned by ear without using the sheet music, but by listening multiple times to the different versions proposed and letting oneself be enveloped by their sounds. In the studio, the drummer and I improvised. I believe all the most important information about its history is on this site: https://koshanin.com/blog/2022/08/22/gusta-mi-maglapadnala/. I chose this piece for the meaning of the lyrics and because I adore Eastern European music. It was written during the Kosovo occupation, and what moved me the most is that under the dense fog caused by the bombs, there is a tree that survives. This image will accompany me forever in difficult moments.
07. I CANTIERI DELLA ZISA: The Cantieri della Zisa, built in Palermo by Letizia Battaglia, are a huge space where artists from all over the world can express themselves through their art. They are expansive spaces that perfectly express the meaning of the future and becoming. I tried to convey this sense of infinity in the track through a “spacious” and “breath-rich” melody; the track lacks a conclusion. It is up to the audience to decide whether to imagine one or not.
I cantieri della Zisa-Score
08. IL COMITATO DEI LENZUOLI: It was a movement born in Palermo in the 1990s, through which citizens against the Mafia hung sheets on their balconies carrying cries of rebellion. These sheets, for me, represent “a light where the shadow is silent.” The bells of Palermo can be heard in the background because I wanted to contrast the strong religious feeling with a movement that needs concreteness and facts.
Il comitato dei lenzuoli-Score
09. PALERMO: It is a frantic and fast-paced track, as I imagine Palermo was in those years of terrorism.
Palermo -pdf-Score
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