Playing for Change 2015

I have grudgingly to admit that I liked at least two events of this year's edition of “Effetto Venezia”: the Luminarium Miracoco and the second Livornese concert of the Playing for Change band. Sorry for the quality of these photos, but I had to take them from about 40 meters, at night. A few more shots on this Facebook album.

The Livornese guitarist Roberto Luti, Clarence Bekker, Pablo Correa, Titi Tsira

Tal Ben Ari, Juan Carlos Portillo, Jason Tamba	The Livornese saxophonist Dimitri Grechi Espinoza

Keiko Komaki, Grandpa Elliot

Effetto Venezia 2015 - Luminarium Miracoco - Mangiafuoco - Hearts and Tops

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More photos: Playing for Change (Facebook album)
External links: Playing for Change (Official Website) - Playing for Change (Wikipedia)
See also: Gimme Shelter - Playing for Change - More Playing for Change

Versione italiana

Give Peace a Chance

“Diamo una possibilità alla Pace” (Give Peace a Chance) was a three days of concerts and performances that took place inside the Fortezza Vecchia, during the long weekend of the 1st of May. Sadly the new bridge, finished since last November and which would have given an easier access to the old fortress, was not yet open to the public.

See also: Fortezza Vecchia - The New Bridge
Search labels: Fortezza Vecchia

Versione italiana

More Playing for Change

A few more pictures of the Playing for Change concert in Piazza del Luogo Pio.

Roberto Luti with the vocalist Titi Tsira from South Africa and Peter Brunetta from Los Angeles.

Tal Ben-Ari (aka Tula) from Tel Aviv, Israel.

Mermans Mosengo from Kinshasa, Orbe Ortiz from Santiago de Cuba and Jason Tamba from Matadi, Congo.

Keiko Komaki from Japan.

External links: Playing for Change (Official Website) - Playing for Change (Wikipedia)
See also: See also: Gimme Shelter - Playing for Change

Versione italiana

Playing for Change

The first time I heard of Playing for Change was because our friend Luis Gomez sent me a link to a video where a Livornese guitarist, Roberto Luti, was playing with many other musicians from around the world.

Last Tuesday the Playing for Change band came to Livorno for a concert in Piazza del Luogo Pio. Sorry for the quality of the pictures, but I had to shot them from about 40 meters, at night. In the first photo you can see Grandpa Elliott from New Orleans, Clarence Bekker from Amsterdam and Roberto Luti from Livorno.

External links: Playing for Change (Official Website) - Playing for Change (Wikipedia)
See also: Gimme Shelter - More Playing for Change

Versione italiana

White Night 2014

“The White Night is that time when you are forced to live in a night of the zombies without the killings, but with most of the people around you even clumsier and less awake of the living dead. With scooters.”
In this case I am not ashamed to quote myself, I am absolutely convinced of the idiocy of an institutional encouragement to stay awake partying all night: that is one of the few things we are good at on our own...

In this night of folly we found haven at Tony's, where a group sang a repertoire of songs by the late singer-songwriter Fabrizio De André. They call themselves “Hotel Supramonte”, which is a nickname for the place where De André and his wife were kept when, in 1980, they were kidnapped for ransom by a gang of bandits in Sardinia. It is also the title of a track from his 1981 album, commonly know as “L'Indiano” (The Indian).

External links: Fabrizio De André - L'Indiano (The Indian) - Supramonte (Wikipedia)
See also: White Night - Tony's White Night

Versione italiana

Coro Garibaldi d'Assalto

Last Friday the “Coro Garibaldi d'Assalto” (Garibaldi Assault Choir) was ready to salute the marchers of ARTEesistenza on their arrival in Piazza Cavour. The repertoire of the group comprises Tuscan folk music and songs of struggle and protest from the Risorgimento to the Resistenza.

The group was formed last Autumn after a series of lessons about folk singing at El Chico Malo social center. Pardo Fornaciari, political activist, musician and singer-songwriter, is the creator and leader of the choir.

The choir accompanied our demonstrators from Piazza Cavour to the Goldoni Theater and parted after a last performance of “Bella ciao”.

See also: ARTEesistenza
External links: Coro Garibaldi d'Assalto - Testimoniare cantando (Documentary in Italian)

Versione italiana

Tony's White Night

The White Night is that time when you are forced to live in a night of the zombies without the killings, but with most of the people around you even clumsier and less awake of the living dead. With scooters.

We have already seen this place in Old and New: the most interesting thing of the new building is a locally well-known musical instruments store called Tony or Music City.

With the White Night the owners invited customers and friends to perform in front of the shop. They were a lot, of quite different ages, and played very different music. You had only to remember that our wandering zombies like to take pictures with the most improbable devices and angles, but always in front of you.

Later in the night, with fewer sleepwalkers around, even the music was getting very, very good...

See also: Old and New - White Night

Versione italiana

Music on the Stairs

Some local musicians are holding an impromptu cancert on the staircase of our Town Hall to protest against the closure of some premises they had in use from the Municipality.The cause of “Spazio Zero” (Zero Space) and of a few other cultural associations is championed by Bobo Rondelli, a well-known local singer, who sang some of his songs on the unusual stage.

Versione italiana

Istituto “Pietro Mascagni”

The “Pietro Mascagni” musical school was created in 1953 as a public school devoted to prepare new players for the Orchestra Labronica.In 1978 the Institute received the full title of Academy of Music. Since 2003 the Institute is hosted in the completely renovated “Gherardesca” compound, a former hospice built in 1861 by the architect Alessandro Gherardesca.
My friend Stefano showed me around, so you can see the concert hall (a former chapel) and its “vintage” organ. A pity that the “score and baton” inspired fountain in the patio was not flowing at the moment.

Ciao!

Yesterdays post was probably a bit too martial, with all these flying flags and daring paratroopers. So let's finish the official chapter of the TAN in a gentler tone.
The helicopter, just after the launch of the parachutists, flew very low with the crew waving hands as saying: “Ciao!”.
The band of the Navy was playing in the nearby Gazebo a selection of not very martial tunes, while sails of any size and description crowded the waters in front of the Terrazza Mascagni.