Music and words, a celebration in honour of the Goddess Mephites: saxophone, percussion, bass and guitars, four musicians, or rather, four adepts, whom with 4 pieces imbued with worldmusic and jazz sonorities will walk you by hand to the mouth of the hell: the Valle d’Ansanto in the green Irpinia, between cult and legend.
“East locus Italiae middle sub montibus altis, nobilis and fame multis memoratus in oris, Amsancti valles ”
“There is a place in the middle of Italy below high mountains, witch is noble and celebrated for fame in many districts, Valle d’Ansanto”
Publio Virgilio Marone....
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Music and words, a celebration in honour of the Goddess Mephites: saxophone, percussion, bass and guitars, four musicians, or rather, four adepts, whom with 4 pieces imbued with worldmusic and jazz sonorities will walk you by hand to the mouth of the hell: the Valle d’Ansanto in the green Irpinia, between cult and legend.
“East locus Italiae middle sub montibus altis, nobilis and fame multis memoratus in oris, Amsancti valles ”
“There is a place in the middle of Italy below high mountains, witch is noble and celebrated for fame in many districts, Valle d’Ansanto”
Publio Virgilio Marone.
The “Mephitis – Piccola Raccolta di Brani Mortali” project arises from the need to tell a story, the one of the Mefite of the Valle d’Ansanto.
Little known to the most, this valley is situated in northern Irpinia near to the epicenter of the earthquake that devastated that land in the 1980s.The Valley was mentioned by many Lathin authors, Virgil above all, who in the Aeneid describes it as the mouth of hell because of political issues related to the population that occupied those lands at the time: the Samnites.
But actually what is the Mefite valley?
A solfatara, or almost. In the middle of the dense green of Irpinia it sinks into the white ash of the valley where rain, toxic fumes and the clay soil gave birth to these bullicant pools. Since ancient times, rainwater which was deposited in the Valley was used to cure all kinds of diseases and epidemics as a magical and divine remedy. In order to get benefits from this miraculous water it is necessary to go down into the valley, where both because of the geological conformation and the toxic fumes, it is really dangerous to enter.
“The bully pools are never dry. They always regenerate. As long as the animals will go to sleep at the feet of the Goddess, she will never stop crying the curse that afflicts her. A mocking and infamous loneliness the one of Xoanon, the woman who suffocated her affections in her own weeping.”
The Record
An EP to tell this story, a “Small Collection of Deadly Tracks”.
A real celebration in honor of the goddess. The development is supported on four pieces of worldmusic and jazz sonorities where melodies act as master. The traks will be prayers and their voice will be given from them, the musicians, in the guise of adepts of the goddess, alien to any kind of judgment. The arduous task of the priest was entrusted to an actor, Andrea Colangelo who, between a prayer and another will lead the public hand in hand to enjoy the sacred ritual, reading a sacred text written just for the occasion by Igor Geat.
Mephitis Ensemble:
Four musicians, four friends, four adepts.
The project stems by an idea of Andrea Marchesino, born in Foggia, classical guitarist for studies, Jazz musician for passion. A year after his arrival in Rome he decides to found the group and to publish his original music for the first time relying on the magical meetings that took place in the Capital.
Matteo Marseglia:
The boar’s voice. Jazz saxophonist and composer Matteo comes from Anzio, a small seaside town near Rome.
He traveled and studied composition and instrument in Germany where he acquired a purely jazzy language without ever abandoning his passion for WorldMusic.
Davide Roberto:
He comes from Andria, it is the beating heart of the project.
He formed in Rome as Percussionist, approaching various styles of World Music. Thanks to the Ethnomusicology studies he approaches the traditional apulian and central souther Italian music repertoire with a thesis on the Italian tambourine. Over the years he deepens his passion for rhythm meeting many different styles of ethnic music from klezmer to Brazilian folk music.
Giovanni Scamardella:
Bass player, Giovanni is the youngest of the band but he is gifted with a great musical instinct.
Born in Naples, son of lutist, raised up on bread and folk music. Since few years he has been studying Jazz in Rome where in a short time he started collecting a considerable series of concerts in the capital.
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