Riot Artists
Justin Adams & Mauro Durante
About
Justin Adams, guitarist, producer and composer with deep experience in African traditions and post-punk grooves, in a new collaboration with Mauro Durante, one of the leading players in the pizzica style of Southern Italy and leader of Canzoniere Grecanico Salentino.
Artist Links: Facebook |
Areas of Representation: The Americas, Australia/NZ, Asia
Biography
Justin Adams, guitarist, producer and composer, has been a creator of wonders with Robert Plant in the Sensational Space Shifters. His production on landmark albums by Tinariwen and Rachid Taha highlights his feel for North African groove, while his award-winning collaborations with Juldeh Camara linked griot tradition with raw blues spirit. His work with artists such as Jah Wobble and Sinead O’Connor was infused with the spirit of post-punk London, while his solo guitar album Ribbons was cited by Songlines magazine among the top 50 albums of the past decade.
This new collaboration with Mauro Durante stems from a concert led by Ludovico Einaudi, the legendary Notte de Taranta in Puglia, where the two first played together, recognising kindred spirits in the trance rhythms of Taranta which transcend “melancolia” or the blues. Mauro Durante toured the world for many years with Ludovico Einaudi playing violin and frame drums. He is one of the leading players in the pizzica style of Southern Italy and leads Canzoniere Grecanico Salentino, who have played great festivals all over the world. Last year they were featured in their own concert at the BBC Proms (where Justin Adams guested with them) and they won Best Group in the Songlines Music Awards.
Videos
A film about the duo.
News
- Songlines 2022 Fusion Award Winner: Justin Adams & Mauro Durante: Still Moving on Ponderosa Music
Justin Adams has long been an adventurous serial collaborator, but his album with Mauro Durante – leader of Italy’s premier pizzica band Canzoniere Grecanico Salentino, who won the Songlines Music Award for Best Group in 2018 – ranks among his finest achievements. The meeting point for the musicians was a fascination with trance rhythms and ...
Press
“A Womad veteran, who played here with Juldeh Camara and Robert Plant, Justin makes three other appearances at this year’s festival, including a virtuoso set with violin and frame drum player Mauro Durante, from the Italian pizzica exponents CGS. Fusing Italian songs with stomping blues, they include an emotional tribute to Sinéad O’Connor, segueing from Still Moving to Visions of You, which Justin recorded with Sinéad and Jah Wobble. He’s an increasingly remarkable guitarist.” ~ The Guardian, at WOMAD 2023
“Justin Adams & Mauro Durante put on an excellent, intimate show at Mill & Mine on Sunday. Justin Adams has worked with many musicians over the years including Robert Plant in the Sensational Space Shifters. For this tour he teamed up with Italian musician Mauro Durante to create a truly unique set of songs. While Adams sang and played guitar, Durante accompanied him singing and playing violin and frame drums. The range of sounds that Durante was able to achieve on the frame drums was truly astounding.” ~ Glide Magazine, at Big Ears Music Festival 2023
“Closing out the series are British guitarist Justin Adams and Mauro Durante, leader of the Southern Italian band Canzoniere Grecanico Salentino (CGS played globalFEST in 2012). Their set, three selections from their acclaimed 2021 album Still Moving, was mesmerizing, a seamless Anglo-American-Italian fusion of rock, blues, and pizzica (the rhythmic, folk-based Italian idiom that’s the specialty of CGS).” ~ Pop Matters
“From blazing rock-outs to aching love songs, this inspired duo deliver a thrilling and spontaneous set. Recorded straight to tape with no overdubs, Still Moving proves a thrilling, spontaneous affair, switching between the laments and love songs of southern Italy and the gritty blues of North Africa and North America.” – The Guardian
