Maria Mazzotta
Maria Mazzotta is one of the most appreciated voices on the European world music scene. Moving naturally from the sounds of southern Italy to Balkan melodies, Mazzotta’s repertoire is the result of accurate investigation and careful regard for the wide range of cultures that compose it, with particular attention to the vocal specificity of each musical tradition. Her deep and powerful performance is an immersive experience for the listener who participates with emotion and passion to her “ritual”.
In the new ensemble, the trio with Cristiano Della Monica (percussions) and Ernesto Nobili (electric guitar), post rock textures meet the roots and the visceral interpretation of Maria Mazzotta, an original and profound combination. After her album “Amoreamaro” (Bitter Love), which told an intense and passionate reflection on the different facets of love from a female point of view, the new album “Onde” (o-tone music/ Edel Kultur) was released on April 5, 2024.
Onde is a story about constant change, in which the sea resonates everywhere, of the gentle movement that lulls before turning into a destructive tidal wave that sweeps everything away. It contains numerous metaphors and diverse states of mind that, like ocean waves, can take on thousands of forms. As the water moves, changing its shape and force, each of the songs allows sounds to flow through it in a sea of frequencies, in which Cristiano della Monica’s drums and Ernesto Nobili’s guitar allow Maria Mazzotta’s vocals to navigate forward. Her voice sets sail, is swept far away and sinks before reappearing, returning to the surface and finally coming to rest. For the three musicians from Lecce and Naples, who have always had the sea on their minds and in their eyes, this album tells the story of the movement of the sea, from the agony of sailing to the relief that each landing offers in the end.
Maria Mazzotta can be booked as a duo or trio.
About the new album “Onde”:
#3 Transglobal World Music Charts April 2024
“Cristiano Della Monica on drums, percussion and electronics and Ernesto Nobili on electric guitar and baritone guitar lend her songs an evocative, psychedelic and at times boundless energy […] Mazzotta’s expressive, electrifying vocals shake and yet evoke hope.” Deutschlandfunk
“Her new album can be described as a surprise. It is unlike anything she has ever done before. It’s actually post-rock, admittedly embedded in the traditional. Here the electric guitar meets earthy regional elements.” Concerto
About the album “Amoreamaro”:
“The new Italian voice of traditional music.” SWR2
“Mazzotta’s sung lament for the dead desperately demanding Mediterranean crossings on overcrowded inflatable boats is oppressive, her hymns to friendship and love beautiful. Melancholy and exuberance go hand in hand. This performance is like the blueprint of this festival – people from all imaginable cultural backgrounds find each other in front of, next to and on stage and celebrate a festival where something common emerges from something different. And where everything counts, except one thing: namely, what is stamped on the front of the passport.” Augsburger Allgemeine
“On “Amoreamaro” Italianità and internationality come together” kulturtipp
“Her expressive voice, which uses all nuances and can go to the limits of expression, her strong presence and urgency, guarantee not only unforgettable concert experiences, but also productions of unmistakable quality.” ORF (AT)
“With a tremendously versatile voice, Maria Mazzotta takes on the different perspectives. In a classic by singer-songwriter Rosa Balistreri, also called the Sicilian Edith Piaf, she remarkably imitates her rough, uncouth singing style so close to the people.” CD Tip at Radio Bremen
“[…] stunning […] how she basically anchors the great folk song traditions of southern Italy in the present as a matter of course.” Ö1/ORF
“Mazzotta is one of the outstanding Italian voices of the south, a connoisseur of pizzica, a vocal expressionist” Globalsounds.info
“A folk album that, especially in its instrumental austerity and thanks to the versatile voice of Maria Mazzotta, depicts the suffering and passion around love in all its facets.” Globalsounds.info
“A strong album with a moving voice and sensitive accordion and piano accompaniment by Bruno Galeone.” FOLKER
Maria Mazzotta is one of the most appreciated voices on the European world music scene. Moving naturally from the sounds of southern Italy to Balkan melodies, Mazzotta’s repertoire is the result of accurate investigation and careful regard for the wide range of cultures that compose it, with particular attention to the vocal specificity of each musical tradition. Her deep and powerful performance is an immersive experience for the listener who participates with emotion and passion to her “ritual”.
In the new ensemble, the trio with Cristiano Della Monica (percussions) and Ernesto Nobili (electric guitar), post rock textures meet the roots and the visceral interpretation of Maria Mazzotta, an original and profound combination. A new album is coming soon.
“Amoreamaro“, Maria Mazzotta’s solo debut album, was released in January 2020. The Amoreamaro tour features over 140 concerts in more than 25 European countries: from the Theatre de la Ville in Paris to the Müpa in Budapest, from La Citè de la Musique in Marseille to the ORF Kulturhaus in Wien, from WOMEX in Porto to OFFest in Skopje, and many more. In April 2023 the first Latin America Tour with gigs in Colombia and Ecuador.
The album was released in January 2020 by Agualoca Records and with this album Maria Mazzotta meeting great acclaim by the audience and by the critics. With Amoreamaro, Maria Mazzotta is a finalist for the Targa Tenco in the “best performer” category, in the Top10 of the best albums of 2020 for Transglobal World Music Chart and World Music Chart Europe, international critics prize at the Premio Parodi, selected for Womex 2021 (Portugal), International Kulturbörse in Freiburg (Germany), Fira Mediterrània de Manresa 2020 (Spain) and MusicConnect (Italy).
An intense and passionate reflection, from a female point of view, on the various faces of love: from the biggest love to the most desperate and very tender one, and from the type that becomes unhealthy to the one that is possessive and abusive.
Ten tracks in all, two of which are unpublished, that fearlessly pass through all the emotions that this feeling can arouse, with the song as a vehicle for catharsis, consolation, strength, and as a “cure”, which is so very typical of popular tradition. They range from little ditties to traditional songs rearranged and enriched with new sounds and words, up to the milestones that paved the way of the great Italian song like “Lu pisci Spada” (“The Swordfish”) by Domenico Modugno, “Tu non mi piaci più” (“I Don’t Like You Anymore”) made successful by Gabriella Ferri, and “Rosa canta e cunta” (“Rosa Sings and Recounts”) by the great Sicilian singer-songwriter Rosa Balistreri.
But the heart of the album can be found in the two unpublished works sung in the dialect of the Salento area: “Nu me lassare” (“Don’t Leave Me”), a painful ballad dedicated to love, an imploring lament to those who no longer exist; and the title track “Amoreamaro” – in the pizzica music style, which is also a dance – there is a rhythm traditionally played for healing the “tarantolate” (women who were supposedly bitten by a tarantula spider which was once thought to cause a form of hysteric behavior) which ideally aims to heal a sick world.
