Record of the day: Rocco De Rosa, “Trammari”

Rocco De Rosa, “Trammari” (Cd il Manifesto 170)

It is not easy to describe the music of the Lucanian pianist and composer Rocco De Rosa; let’s say straight away that it is music that reaches the listener immediately, full of fascinating melodies and rhythms that come from seaside countries where the sun beats incessantly (not only the South of Italy, but also Africa, Indonesia, Spain, Portugal .

) to mix with the tradition of jazz and song, but also with minimalism and classical writing (especially in the string parts) in a very fragrant mélange capable of being memorized after just one listen; that all this happens without the music giving in an inch to commercial flattery or recording strategies is just further proof of the intelligence and talent of this musician, who is also very active in the field of soundtracks (he has collaborated with directors such as Olmi, Maselli, Moretti and many others).

This “visual” approach to music means that in the songs on the album the look at things is always panoramic and inclusive; De Rosa tends to amalgamate the musical stimuli that he gathers from different cultures, to create a synthetic language where the primary elements are so diluted in the final result that they are sometimes unrecognizable, but despite this always present as the lifeblood, DNA of this music that knows be at the same time current and very ancient, as if Rocco created his own popular tradition today. Voices and songs that seem to belong to the mists of time meet with sequencers and electronic drums, harmonic progressions that would not displease Joe Zawinul support melodies in which distant suggestions of unchanged purity resonate (listen to “Gading” and “Trammari”).

Illustrious guests came to bring their colors and their friendship to Rocco, to his innate taste for refined and captivating sounds: Ralph Towner, Maria Pia De Vito, Daniele Sepe, Michele Rabbia and Sergio Endrigo (one of the last recordings of this artist, who together with Rocco wrote “Giardino di Giovanni”, a ballad infused with melancholy). These compositions deserve to be known and disseminated much more among the general public, who would have no difficulty in making them their own; while waiting for them to notice, Rocco patiently continues to weave his polychrome musical macramé.

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.