Enzo Avitabile

Born in 1955, he began playing saxophone when he was seven, and as a teenager he was making money igging in the American clubs that dotted Naples. After attending the Conservatory of San Pietro a Maiella, where he earned his diploma as a flutist, he emerged full-blown onto the nascent Italian jazz scene, recording his first album in 1982. Since then he’s become one of Italy’s best-known and most respected musicians. His questing nature has seen him play with international stars as diverse as JAMES BROWN, AFRIKA BAMBAATAA, and MORY KANTÉ. He has been making music around the globe, from Central Africa to the United States and from Palestine to his native Naples while in search of new sounds.

In 2001, when he could easily have rested on his artistic laurels, he began to chart a new course. Hearing BOTTARI, from the Campania region of Southern Italy, he was struck by their sound. Striking barrels and vats, or hitting scythes with steel sticks, they seemed primitive at first. But there was a beauty to their traditional rhythms of pastellesa and tarantella. Avitabile began working with them, exploring the possibilities of their collaboration. He wrote songs whose lyrics, sung in a Neopolitan dialect, depicted the lives and sufferings of a people through war and anger. What Avitabile and Bottari created built on history and delivered something new and exciting. To view their United States debut concert in Chicago's Millennium Park, Pritzker Pavilion, select this link.

In 2004, after three years of collaborating, they began recording their debut album, Salvamm’o Mummo (Save the World). As word spread about the project, an international array of stars asked to be part of it. The legendary names – MANU DIBANGO, HUGH MASEKELA, AMINA, SIMON SHAHEEN, BAKHIT MIZMARK BRASS BAND, and Algerian superstar KHALED – gave a pan-Mediterranean (and beyond) feel to the disc.

Salvammo’o Mummo exploded onto a jaded world music scene. CDRoots.com called it ‘the most original world music album of the year,’ while Songlines classed it as ‘a remarkable album, unlike any other.’

A dynamic performance at WOMAD 2004 followed the release, increasing their profile, which was sealed by a nomination in the BBC Radio 3 World Music Awards. ENZO AVITABILE & BOTTARI are now a certified world music sensation, uniting past and present in a unique fashion.