Mauro Durante and Justin Adams discuss making the new Canzoniere Grecanico Salentino LP, Meridiana, under Covid-19’s challenging conditions and suspended time.

George de Stefano – May 13, 2021

Like so many bands worldwide, Canzoniere Grecanico Salentino (CGS) were left stranded by the Covid-19 pandemic, unable to get together to record or perform concerts. For the Southern Italian ensemble, the forced respite brought a decade’s worth of intense activity to a halt. Their exhilarating shows had won them an international fan base and critical raves. They played folk, jazz, and global music festivals like WOMAD throughout Europe, North and South America, and Australia. They released a string of exceptional albums — Focu d’amore (2010), Pizzica Indiavolata (2013), and Quaranta (2015) — that mixed traditional material and new compositions rooted in tradition but attuned, lyrically and sonically, to the present.

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