Cantano Gli Ucci

Mascarimirì like to say they were born in a Salento ‘not yet touristic’ and out of the union ‘between tradition and innovation.’ This means that for the past 25 years, the band have been reinterpreting the region’s main musical traditions, the pizzica and tarantella rhythms, adding guitars (classical and electric), bass and drums and electronic elements to a music form that rests mostly in the hypnotic integration of voices and percussions, and is even said to cure spider bites (in the 15th-17th centuries, the frenzied dance was thought to be a means of expelling the poison of a tarantula).

After quite a stimulating experiment with electronic music in NOU? (2020), Cantano Gli Ucci (Sing the Ucci), finds Mascarimirì paying tribute to the Ucci – that is, ‘the largest male traditional singing formation that existed in Salento (Puglia, Italy) in the 70s.’ But what we clearly learn listening to this new album is that Mascarimirì are more enticing when they keep ‘modern’ instruments to a minimum. One feels they try to modernise these songs beyond need. ‘La Barca di Roma’ is a good example of how bass and guitar excessively impose themselves on the repertoire, while the straight-ahead call-and-response of ‘Pizzica Pizzica – Gli Ucci de Cutrofiano’ or the dreamy vocals laid over a Mediterranean subtle instrumentation in ‘Aria de li Trainieri’ work much better.

Sometimes, innovation is a burden that weighs too heavy.