Album of the day: Naco, "Naco"

Album of the day: Naco, “Naco”

Naco
“Naco” (Cd Soleluna/Universal 528983-2)

Give yourself a gift; buy this album (the distribution isn’t great but if you look hard it won’t be too difficult to find it). You can be on the safe side with a musician like Naco, a great percussionist who tragically died in 1996 in a road accident after having colored dozens of records of the most diverse musical genres with his instruments, from jazz to pop, from fusion to Brazilian music, from surreal rock of Elio e le Storie Tese to the works of singer-songwriters such as Fabrizio De André and Ivano Fossati.

Everything was music for Naco, his hands could transform anything into rhythm; old boxes, pieces of wood, even telephone wire ducts; he mastered invented instruments but also those coming from distant countries such as Cuba and Brazil. Self-taught, in a very short time he had achieved an instrumental mastery that had few comparisons, combined with an extraordinary taste for timbres, which he mixed in each of his performances, taking inspiration from the sounds of water, earth and wind.

The Brazil loved by Naco was not the standardized and domesticated one that too often arrives in our country, but that
closely linked to Africa; the world of Milton Nascimento, Olodum, Carlinhos Brown, but also that of João Gilberto’s whispered phrasings and Chico Buarque’s songs.

Thanks to Jovanotti’s foresight, Naco managed to create his only solo album in 1995, where together with musician friends such as Riccardo Luppi, Salvatore Bonafede and David Boato he was able to unleash his irrepressible imagination for everything that was capable of producing energy.
Naco plays dozens of different instruments, with beautifully recorded sounds, which come from all over the globe; talking drums, gongs, cajons, Amazon bird calls, darbuka, caxixi, Pygmy flutes, zabumba, sanza, cuica, berimbao, cymbals, metals of all kinds, pandeiro, bells and much more.

The compositions are all very beautiful, from the first song “El sueño de Naquito” in an atmosphere full of enthusiasm, to be listened to while remembering with affection and admiration a musician who passed like a bolt of lightning in the musical firmament, leaving a trail that is still visible, dazzling.

Carlo Boccadoro, composer and conductor, was born in Macerata in 1963. He lives and works in Milan. He collaborates with soloists and orchestras in different parts of the world. He is the author of numerous books on musical topics.

This text is taken from “Lunario della musica: A record for every day of the year” published by Einaudi, courtesy of the author and the publisher.