Enzo Avitabile & Bottari

Enzo Avitabile plays a fusion of world music and jazz fusion. With Bottari Avitabile has brought the ancient traditional rhythm from south Italy to the forefront of his jazz fusion. The Bottari performance involves wine barrels, wooden drums and other farm related instruments used to create rhythm. Avitabile is sensitive to the Bottari culture while he experiment with fusion Jazz.

This concert video was recorded at their United States debut performance in Chicago's Millennium Park, Pritzker Pavilion, June 24, 2007. 

Don Heckman in a review of Enzo Avitabile & Bottari for the Los Angeles Times on June 30, 2007 wrote, "Consider the elements: Naples-born Avitable, who has collaborated with performers from James Brown to African griot musician Mory Kanté, was leading his septet in a combined appearance with the determinedly traditional, distinctly un-jazz-like Bottari percussion ensemble from Italy's Campania region. Bottari is a traditional group that is curiously similar, in some respects, to Japan's taiko ensembles. But Bottari's instruments are far more primitive — wooden barrels and vats, scythes and steel sticks, with which the ancient rhythms of pastellesas and tarantellas are performed. Despite their seemingly implausible connection with the jazz accents of his septet, Avitable somehow combined the differing ingredients into a steaming cioppino of highly seasoned rhythm and sound.

"His (Enzo) soloing, jazz-based, nonetheless also embraced the melisma-rich vocal style of traditional tarantella. Yet even here the jazz connection remained strong, as the brisk accents of Avitable's three-piece horn section interacted with the pounding percussion of the Bottari drummers. His singing, frequent interaction with the audience and ebullient, eminently likable manner all contributed to one of the more entertaining musical events of the season."

For more on Enzo Avitabile including staytunedtv interviews with him click on this link.