Venti

The chitarra battente (literally ‘beating guitar’) is an Italian variation of the instrument, closer to a lute or mandolin, with five double strings. Built in Venice, Bergamo and Naples, it’s a key instrument in the traditional music of southern Italian regions like Calabria and Basilicata, where they are still produced by family businesses. Its name most likely comes from a playing technique where strings are hit together with the body creating a percussive effect, featured here on ‘Danza Ionia’. Venti, depending on the way it’s pronounced in Italian, can mean ‘Twenty’ or ‘Winds’: twenty for the strings of the two guitars, the fingers of the musicians, and the cursed year (2020) when the album was recorded, while the winds carry the music.

The instrument is traditionally used as accompaniment, so a duo is quite unprecedented, and the repertoire is mostly original, inspired by different musical traditions of the area. It’s a feast of finger picking and rasgueado, at times dazzling, solemnly contrapuntal or wildly dancing. It is a celebration of ancient music and an exploration of the future sonic possibilities for a noble instrument.