Ravenna Festival

The eighteenth-century Palazzo San Giacomo in nearby Russi will be the atmospheric setting of two very special evenings, centred on folk music and dance. The first, which goes under the local dialect title “S’l’è nöt u s’farà dè” (The morning will follow the night), will be animated by the frenzied rhythms of Kocani Orkestar, one of the most spectacular and appreciated Balkan brass bands, a magical orchestra of exceptional musicians, vagrant, generous, excessive artists, an open, ever-changing ensemble who will come to Russi from across the Adriatic to meet the 100% Italian Banda Municipale Balcanica, Pino Minafra e Roberto Ottaviano in a project suitably called “Tra sponde” (Between two shores). And then Juan José Mosalini and his Grande Orchestre de Tango: well-known in Europe as a leading ambassador of tango, Juan José Mosalini is one of the few bandonéon players who can revive tango in all if its expressions, from its origins to modern day. In the tradition of the ‘typical orchestras’ of the ‘40s and ‘50s, his Orchestra, founded in 1992, is composed of 11 musicians.
The ancient wet dock of Cervia will be the setting for two events which will interpret the Festival’s theme with different accents. Black is beautiful, besides the obvious reference to darkness, refers to the tradition of one of the inalienable soundtracks of our lives: “Great Black Music” in its various forms - jazz, blues, soul, afro, hip-hop. The first evening will be dedicated to the new African music scene, with the bewitching voice of Malian singer Rokia Traoré (July 2). Most of her songs are sung in her native language, bamana or bambara, but her bold lyrics cover issues like the social status of women in today’s Africa. Rokia Traoré’s latest album, Tchamatche, is a poetical and harmonious expression of African music tradition mixed with the different rhythms of rock, jazz and blues.
“A Funky Celebration”, on the other side, pays homage to the great tradition of ‘funky’ music and its tutelary deity, James Brown, who died a few years ago. Maceo Parker and Fred Wesley, two of the musicians who played in Brown’s mythical band, will perform in Cervia with their ensembles (July 3).