The “Canzuni” sung by Massimo Ferrante by N. Yakova
We hear more and more often about the issue of identity in Italy. Racism and intolerance emerge towards those who are further south than us or who come from the Middle East, or towards those who, despite being our compatriots, do not align themselves with the masses or even towards those who do not have breakfast… at Tiffany’s. But there is no mention of the loss of identity that we have been experiencing since the end of the Second World War. The same game of the past returns: the one aimed at hunting the communists. Don’t worry, those are long gone!
The current objective, the goal, as they say in these parts, is the hunt for human beings. The beautiful country is well along the line of a standard knowledge, built on virtuality and fear. It is a knowledge handed down by those who do not experience real life and who empties souls instead of enriching them. Everyone is terrified at the though of the other, even the neighbor. Therefore the south of Italy, whose origins are characterized by a mix of countless cultures, declares war on itself. It is sad to see the erasure of memory. In reality southern Italy, (perhaps with the exception of a part of western Sicily which preferred to sell its soul to aliens even before the union of Italy, and some more urbanized areas of the south, among where the cities of Naples and Salerno, headed towards globalization), is culturally closer to the rest of the Mediterranean than to those overseas lands discovered by that “Columbus” who flew away before he even existed! Just head inland and a little further south from the south of Partenope to experience first-hand the fascinating melange of cultures of peoples who are not resilient, like metals, but who are resistant because they remain human!
Together with them, the truth persists which, although it does not enjoy an official echo, remains imprinted on the canvases and told in popular songs which, it must be known, are not just songs.
Popular songs are the conscience of a people. They pass on the story that belongs to us but that we tend not to listen to in favor of stupor and illusion, for fear of having to take on responsibilities and being forced to make conscious and definitive choices.
In fact we go down to “tarallucci and wine”, and wild tarantellas, in short a “Feste Farina e Forca” (celebration, flour and gallows) that is perpetuated over the years to ensure that everyone is overall stupid and happy. This is one of the reasons why ‘E Zezi Gruppo Operaio, as one of their historical leader, Angelo De Falco explains, in his open letter on the Neapolitan newspaper Il Mattino, declined their participation in the Notte della Tammorra (night of tammorra), which was held in Naples last September. The event, while boasting of being a tribute to the deceased Marcello Colasurdo and to popular music, in point of fact prefers to hide the condition of poverty, pain and protest of peasant and worker singing. So it happens that popular singing, in our lands, remains a “niche culture” while further north, up to France it is requested and appreciated. Massimo Ferrante, an extraordinary Calabrian artist, has been engaged for years in the research, recovery and reworking of songs belonging to the popular tradition.
Born in Joggi, a hamlet of Santa Caterina Albanese, in the province of Cosenza, he inherited his passion and talent for singing from his father. Dad Enrico, who recently passed away, worked at the former Fil brick factory and was known as the town singer.
M.F.: “My father was a worker but he loved singing. He didn’t sing traditional songs but songs by Claudio Villa, some classic Neapolitan songs, with a clear Calabrian accent… When the constructions on the coast ended, for this, and a series of other circumstances, the factory closed, resulting in the depopulation of the town. This also pushed me to leave.”
It all started towards the end of the 70s, when Massimo moved to Naples to attend university. However the call of music was so strong that instead of studying he found himself playing in Neapolitan clubs. While the piano bar made with musical backing tracks was in fashion, the young Calabrian artist performed with the guitar proposing a repertoire of Italian songwriting featuring Gaber, Jannacci, De Andrè, Battisti. His approach has always been linked more to the text than to the music.
Likewise, in popular music his attention is more directed towards what the lyrics say. Whether it is a serenade, a work song, or a song that remembers something that happened, like a storyteller, he sings
for the memory. He takes up the lyrics and tries to bring attention to certain things that would it otherwise be forgotten. Massimo’s work is an endless research that he does on the territory. It is a comparison that takes place with other musicians, with the inhabitants of the areas involved and with his family as well.
During his career of singer/storyteller Massimo Ferrante has recorded 5 albums and participates in numerous national and international festivals. Since his beginning he collaborate with artists known in the field of folk and world music such as Daniele Sepe, ‘E Zezi Gruppo Operaio, Rua Port’Alba, Carlo Muratori just to name a few, and in theater and cinema with directors such as Mario Martone and Davide Ferrario. He has given voice to theme songs for television programs and movies, and also has taken on the artistic direction of clubs and music festivals. His most recent recording work was done during the lockdown and was released in 2021 by Felmay Records.
It’s titled Canzuni (Songs) and it’s a naked and raw album recorded guitar and voice only, like traditional singers used to do. The cd features 14 tracks that I’m going to list and briefly describe just to give you an idea of the completeness of this strongly earthly and passionate work. L’occhiu di lu suli (The eye of the sun), is a poem set to music from Pier Paolo Pasolini’s collection; Strina du Judeo (alms singing of Jew) is a song of fight and redeem, dates back to the end of the 19th century; Stu pettu è fattu cimbalu d’amuri (This chest is made of love’s harpsichord) is a love song from 17th century; ‘A nuvella (A tale) is a nursery rhyme set to music; Ninnananna Joggese (Lulluby from Joggi) is a lulluby that Massimo’s mom sung to him as a child. It is the result of a work in which the singer involved his mother and his sisters to put the verses back together. The sixth track of the cd is La Ceserina (Cesarina), a sweet love song from Salento; then there is Strina campagnola (song from the country), about the suffering of farmers forced to leave their land. Serenata (Serenade) is a very romantic piece from the Samnite tradition; Klama (Lament) is a poignant song about emigration, in grico language from Salento. The tenth is Melissa (Melissa), a song written by Otello Ermanno Profazio, which, other than being sweet, talks about the occupation of the lands in Melissa, Calabria, and the massacre of the peasants in favor of the landowners, who were even illegitimate, by the carabinieri (Italian national police force) sent by the Italian Minister of the Interior Scelba in 1949. Pagella di scolaro in fondo al mare (Report card of a schoolboy at the bottom of the sea), features moving verses, by Aldo Masullo, for the Malian teenager who drowned in the Mediterranean Sea in 2019, with the his school report card sewn into his jacket. The unbridled Tarantella Joggese (Tarantella from Joggi) nice in its unplugged version, is the twelfth track, followed by Arrivaru li Cammisi (The shirts arrived), which, referring to the “red shirts” leaded by Garibaldi, tells about the Bronte massacre of Sicilian people, in 1860. Massimo concludes this passionate and intense work with Lamentu pi la Morti di Turiddu Carnivali (Lament for the death of Salvatore Carnevale), the story of the young Sicilian trade unionist killed by the mafia, written by Ignazio Buttitta and performed in the version of Otello Ermanno Profazio. They are clearly themes of love, tradition, pain, denunciation, struggle, immigration and history, a history, that of the South, which Southerners themselves often don’t even know but which must be considered and listened to with attention. This is truly necessary so as not to lose our identity as human beings first and foremost.
Last September, a few days after his participation in the Lithos Festival, a folk and world music event organized by Carlo Muratori, in Ferla, (SR, IT), I’ve got the chance to chat with him merging myself in the popular music culture of Southern Italy.
How do you approach reworking popular music?
M.F.: “I am not a philologist. In the 70s, just when I started playing, the Nuova Compagnia di Canto Popolare was born in Naples, there was Roberto De Simone, and in Calabria we listened to Otello Ermanno Profazio and Ciccio Fred Scotti. I took the same path and, together with some friends, did some research on the territory. I mean I went to talk to the local people and to the a lady who I knew was the singer of the town. We managed to recover two or three texts which I then recorded. One of those songs was included in a work by Daniele Sepe, entitled Vite Perdite, in 1993. Then I made others. For example, there is a lullaby that my mother used to sing to me and my sisters. One day we all got together, since my sisters are also passionate about singing, and we started putting together the various verses. I had to make a selection of all the verses because there were too many. The lullaby came at about two and a half hours! I took the verses that I liked the most and put them on the record. I did the same with the tarantella. I remembered that one from the period of occupation of the Institute, when we met with friends from the various surrounding towns. We put the various verses together and it became Tarantella Calabrese which I later recorded as Tarantella Joggese.”
Have you ever written anything of your own?
M.F.: “I didn’t try much because I’m never satisfied. For me it’s important to remember things. In fact, I am more attached to the lyrics than to the music. One of my references was Ignazio Buttitta for his verses, often with the music redone by Otello Profazio. Buttitta was a very attentive poet. I consider myself… let’s say a “niche singer” because despite playing tarantellas, which are always successful, I believe that narrowing the field of popular music to the scope of tarantella alone is extremely reductive. Look at the big events taking place today… They deal more with dancing than anything else. Naturally it is better for people not to remember, not to pay attention to what has happened and what is happening. For example, in ’49, in Calabria, in Melissa, what happened during the land occupations saw farmers die at the hands of the carabinieri sent by politicians. Or even the story of Salvatore Carnevali killed by the mafia…! These are sad events that few remember. Although I may be unpopular, this is my point of view.”
The vision of the people once represented the vision of the world and was in stark contrast to that of the ruling class. Today, however, the people seem to be more inclined to adopt the masters’ conception of the world. What happened?
M.F.: “I couldn’t answer this question. Certainly, for many years now, there has been a rift between us, as a people, and the ruling class. The people are increasingly distanced from those in charge. We have lived through years of confusion in which not much was understood. I think that in Italy we are subjects.”
What is the context in which popular song survives?
M.F.: “Most people probably believe that popular music is what they listen to today at village festivals, therefore they associate popular music only with the tarantella. Fortunately there are exceptions. Yesterday I attended the Lithos Festival. I was invited by a very good Sicilian artist called Carlo Muratori and who organizes this event in the province of Syracuse. This is the right context. In Italy there are still places where you can listen to music, otherwise it’s really difficult, also because the organizers are looking for kids who play tarantellas, tammurriate, pizzica, and who perform for little money. You will understand that those who, like me, have worked in this field for 40 years cannot go and play for such a low salary. Many young musicians know how to play the tarantella and pizzica really well… But the fact remains that now anyone can do this, so with 300-400 euros you can organize a party. There are places where it is also possible to listen to something else and the attention from the public is there, as there was in Ferla at the Lithos Festival. But even when I played at Mimmo Lucano, people were attentive, and I can guarantee you that the public also followed in Puglia, in Susa, in Piedmont…Then, as a musician, you realize that what reaches the public attracts attention and consensus and therefore it is clear that the problem depends a lot on the organizers.”
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