Celtic Music in Italy - Page 4
© Stephen William Gray
ADP: A famous Italian writer of nineteenth century was Emilio Salgari: although He had never been to Malaysia, all of his stories talked about Malaysia, its people, the places, the weather...everything was described perfectly, according to those who know Malaysia...well....sometimes I feel like the Emilio Salgari of Celtic music... :-( But it's known that probably one of the most expert historians of Italy during the last century is an Englishman, Denis Mack Smith...
Jokes apart, yes, there is a local group called Aes Dana that often performs here. They make very interesting music, since they mix Irish and Mediterranean music in a tremendous way . They have also played with many of the "greats", artists such as the Chieftains, Jacqui McShee & Gerry Conway; and Paddy Keenan and Máirtín O'Connor are the guest musicians on their next album, out soon. It was mixed in Ireland and there will be some pictures by Seán Laffey on the sleeve...a really high level production, after all!
SG: I am sure you'll get over to the United Kingdom or Ireland soon, if you are as passionate about the music as I believe you are! When I first corresponded with you, you had been playing guitar with Celtic Sud at the Teatro Micron in Palermo. Do you still play or have ambitions to play again?
ADP: It was a really mad (and funny!) experience for me, but actually I play guitar only sometimes, with some friends singing. Unfortunately my spare time is very little, and I cannot practice on guitar frequently.
Oh, last summer I had the pleasure to play and song Sicilian and Italian folk songs in "Winkle's" pub, in Kinvara, near Galway, in Ireland! It was a wonderful night for all of us (we were just a group of tourists going around, and I didn't even know anyone of them, before then). The Irish too, seemed very happy about our performance! It was a great surprise to see, going out of the pub, that it had just won the prize as "best music pub of the year"!
SG: Are there many visiting performers to concerts and festivals in Italy? Maybe Keltica could get involved in setting up a festival?
ADP: Concerts and festivals are mostly in the North of Italy, and usually they are very crowded and successful. As far as I know, ALL the artists I interview would love to come and play in Italy. When I ask "Why?" their answers are more or less the same: the food, good wine, the weather, the art treasures, the women (!)...A Keltika festival could be an idea, too - something I have talked about with the editor of Keltika, Raffaello Carabini. Let's hope... Apart from that, every year in August here in Palermo there is a festival organized by WOMAD. A couple of years ago I remember clearly a great gig by Shooglenifty, with all the people dancing around...it seemed that the trees too of the Teatro di Verdura, a wonderful open-air theatre, would begin to dance...
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