Epifani Barbers

Taranta, a southern Italian tradition combining music, movement and folklore, is becoming increasingly popular and intriguing. Among the many new elements celebrating Taranta, is the new project undertaken by Forrest Hill Records and released into the sultry summer of Puglia, from whence its creator hails. In a blend of tradition and innovation that we've come to expect from Forrest Hill, comes MARANNUI from Mimmo Epifani and the Epifani Barbers. A tribute to the TARANTA and the rich land of the Salento, a corner of southern Italy bursting with warmth, history, colour and flavour.

It was here, actually in the barber shop belonging to Maestro Costantino, where Mimmo Epifani, as a boy, began to learn to play the mandolin, discovering a passion for the musical traditions passed down from one generation to the next. Upon completing his studies of the mandolin at the Padova Conservatory, he began to collaborate with such artists as Antonio Infantino and Caterina Bueno; the Compagnia Media Etas del Maestro De Simone and with Eugenio Bennato with whom he participated in Musicanova, reaching an artistic apex and travelling the world over on tour.

With this new piece, Mimmo Epifani introduces us to the barber as holder of traditions and secrets to the music of his region. This was one among many of the fundamental roles the barber held in the Salento. The barber would share the local guitar-playing technique of "pizzica-pizzica" with the next generation, his role in the proliferation of tradition tantamount to that of the Irish Pub to the growth and continuation of Celtic Music.

What comes through is an entertaining piece, never over-emotional. Au contraire, we can see a look to the future, where the repertoire gives us renewed elegance in its composition (Amsterdam by Patrizio Trampetti and Vientu) and with the attractive and intense vocals of FRANCO CASTIGLI and MANUELA LOFFREDO. Also noteworthy, the rhythms that carry you away without ever transforming the piece to solely a dance, or presumably therapeutic, piece. The valuable quality of such composition lies, in fact, in the delicate balance struck between ritual catharsis and modern melody. —Courtesy Calabash Music