Mediagallery:

From Livorno to Marsala: blends from the world for music from the sea

Livorno and Marsala are only apparently little connected to each other. Influences from the world are their fingerprints: Livorno sinks its roots in multiculturalism, Marsala has experienced multiculturalism throughout its history, from countless dominations to the Arab origins of its name. These blends have become over time food and vocation for art and music. Indeed, the two cities are fertile wombs of artists and singer-songwriters from their own territories. But not only that. Besides being lands of unique wines such as Sassicaia and Masala, the two cities are also and above all united by a strong bond with the sea. Livorno and Marsala represent, therefore, a visionary chimeric allegory of multicultural union as an inspiration mix for art and music from the sea.

Digiovanni and Carmelo Pipitone, born in Livorno and Marsala, recently crossed paths. The two artists, for the opening evening of Effetto Venezia, will combine passages of interconnection in their performances which will see them perform together songs from their individual repertoires as an emotional bridge between the two cultural and musical realities, an imaginative moment of blends from the world for music from the sea.

CARMELO PIPITONE guitarist, author and artistic producer, is in concert in Livorno to present his latest album “Piedi in acqua”, a biographical musical work that tells a slice of life of the Sicilian guitarist over the last 4 years: “They were tough times for everyone” Pipitone tells. A part of reality that he explains in Sicilian language and not all those problems that revolve in the social and inner daily life “It is a logbook, a new nuance in its pages”. With the Marta sui Tubi, Carmelo has released 6 studio albums, a collection of the most important songs and collected valuable collaborations with artists such as Lucio Dalla, Franco Battiato, Enrico Ruggeri and important stages such as the Primo Maggio in Rome, Italia Wave before Placebo, the appearances related to the TV series “Romanzo Criminale” and the prestigious participations in the show “Che Tempo Che Fa”. In 2009 Carmelo Pipitone receives the Insound Award as best acoustic guitarist. The Marta Sui Tubi participated in the Sanremo Festival 2013 in the “Big” category, duetting with Antonella Ruggiero. In 2014 he contributes to the formation of the superband O.R.K., still active, with Lorenzo Esposito Fornasari (Hypersomniac, Bersèk), Colin Edwin (PorcupineTree) and PatMastelotto (King Crimson). In the summer of 2017 he began playing with the Dunk (Ettore, Marco Giuradei and Luca Ferrari from Verdena). In the meantime, he released his first solo album “Cornucopia” for La Fabbrica independent label (produced by Lorenzo Esposito Fornasari) and in 2020 “Segreto Pubblico”, the second album. Now it’s time for “Piedi in acqua”.

DIGIOVANNI is the maternal surname of Alessio Franchini, singer-songwriter and musician from Livorno with a long history of stages (from the Ariston Theater in Sanremo to the Teatro Della Luna in Milan, from the Paradiso – Amsterdam to clubs in Manhattan) and collaborations: from Vinicio Capossela (with whom he has shared the stage several times, he participated in the 2017 edition of the Sponz Fest in Alta Irpinia and appears as an author, as a testimony of that same experience, in the book “Come li pacci. Un racconto a più voci di dieci anni di Sponz Fest” edited in 2023 by Baldini+Castoldi) to Gary Lucas (best living American guitarist for Rolling Stone, co-author of the most famous songs by Jeff Buckley and collaborator of artists such as John Cale, Chris Cornell, Lou Reed, Frank Zappa). DIGIOVANNI is on tour to present his new album “La seconda prima volta”, produced by Andrea Pachetti (Emma Nolde, Bobo Rondelli, Zen Circus, Dente), released by the LaRue Music Records label (distributed by The Orchard/Sony) and indicated by the indie press as one of the most interesting debuts in recent years.