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A multi-instrumentalist, expert in Mediterranean music and director of international ensembles, Stefano Saletti is the founder of the Banda Ikona, comprised of such famous musicians as the vocalist Barbara Eramo, the winds player Gabriele Coen, the violinist Carlo Cossu, the bassist Mario Rivera, and the drummer Giovanni Lo Cascio.
Many of the Piccola Banda Ikona's original compositions are sung in Sabir, a lingua franca used by sailors, pirates, fishermen, merchants, and ship-owners in Mediterranean ports to communicate with one another: from Genoa to Tangiers, from Salonika to Istanbul, from Marseilles to Algiers, from Valencia to Palermo, until the early decades of the twentieth century this form of seafaring "Esperanto" developed little by little, availing of terms from Spanish, Italian, French, and Arabic.
In their last CD "Soundcity: sounds from border towns" (published by Finisterre and distributed by Felmay), Stefano Saletti started from the recordings that, in the past few years, he had made around the Mediterranean in many border cities: Lampedusa, Istanbul, Tangier, Lisbon, Jaffa, Sarajevo, Ventotene... Sounds, noises, radios, voices, sound spaces, buskers have all inspired his melodies, lyrics, and rhythms.
In June 2016, "Soundcity" reached the top ten of the World Music Charts Europe (4th) and remained on the charts for three months, and in May 2016, the top ten of the Transglobal World Music Charts.
Their previous CD called "Folkpolitik" contains Saletti's original compositions and arrangements of tunes by Mediterranean authors who, through their music, have described the struggle against power, suffering, persecution, arrests, and violence. In October 2012, "Folkpolitik" reached the top ten of the World Music Charts Europe, and this CD also remained on the charts for three months.
In recent years, Stefano Saletti and the Banda Ikona have toured extensively, playing at major international festivals in Italy, Canada, Cape Verde, Portugal, Spain, France, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Morocco, Hungary, Switzerland, Greece, Egypt, and Germany.
Stefano Saletti and the Piccola Banda Ikona boast numerous collaborations with writers and theatre directors in national and international tours.
LINE UP:
Stefano Saletti: bouzouki, oud, guitar, vocals
Barbara Eramo: vocals
Gabriele Coen: sax and clarinet
Carlo Cossu: violin
Mario Rivera: acoustic bass
Giovanni Lo Cascio: drums and percussion
Many of the Piccola Banda Ikona's original compositions are sung in Sabir, a lingua franca used by sailors, pirates, fishermen, merchants, and ship-owners in Mediterranean ports to communicate with one another: from Genoa to Tangiers, from Salonika to Istanbul, from Marseilles to Algiers, from Valencia to Palermo, until the early decades of the twentieth century this form of seafaring "Esperanto" developed little by little, availing of terms from Spanish, Italian, French, and Arabic.
In their last CD "Soundcity: sounds from border towns" (published by Finisterre and distributed by Felmay), Stefano Saletti started from the recordings that, in the past few years, he had made around the Mediterranean in many border cities: Lampedusa, Istanbul, Tangier, Lisbon, Jaffa, Sarajevo, Ventotene... Sounds, noises, radios, voices, sound spaces, buskers have all inspired his melodies, lyrics, and rhythms.
In June 2016, "Soundcity" reached the top ten of the World Music Charts Europe (4th) and remained on the charts for three months, and in May 2016, the top ten of the Transglobal World Music Charts.
Their previous CD called "Folkpolitik" contains Saletti's original compositions and arrangements of tunes by Mediterranean authors who, through their music, have described the struggle against power, suffering, persecution, arrests, and violence. In October 2012, "Folkpolitik" reached the top ten of the World Music Charts Europe, and this CD also remained on the charts for three months.
In recent years, Stefano Saletti and the Banda Ikona have toured extensively, playing at major international festivals in Italy, Canada, Cape Verde, Portugal, Spain, France, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Morocco, Hungary, Switzerland, Greece, Egypt, and Germany.
Stefano Saletti and the Piccola Banda Ikona boast numerous collaborations with writers and theatre directors in national and international tours.
LINE UP:
Stefano Saletti: bouzouki, oud, guitar, vocals
Barbara Eramo: vocals
Gabriele Coen: sax and clarinet
Carlo Cossu: violin
Mario Rivera: acoustic bass
Giovanni Lo Cascio: drums and percussion
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