Talassa

After 25 years of researching and performing traditional music from Salento and Apulia, Italy, singer-songwriter Dario Muci releases his first album of original compositions. Like a modern cantastorie (storyteller), Muci has chosen songs or written lyrics concerning the problems plaguing his beautiful Salento: bacterium attacking olive trees, workers’ struggles, loss of biodiversity, boat crossing tragedies. The eight songs are sung in his local dialect, in Italian, in Griko – an ancient dialect still spoken by some elders in Lecce – and Arabic. A strong nucleus of jazz/folk musicians provide the rich, varied background, which is often intensely rhythmic with contributions by traditional singer Enza Pagliara, popular singer-pianist Raphael Gualazzi, rappers Treble and Rocky G.Vox, as well as Palestinian Nabil Salameh from Radiodervish. The album is a fresh, engaging take on contemporary songwriting, passionately commenting on contemporary issues with Muci’s intense delivery giving all the songs dramatic intent.