FOUR FLEA CIRCUS: Mariè Abe Accordion; Lisa Mezzacappa doublebass; Jason Levis drums. Charles Ferris trumpet. ********************
MARZOUK NOUVEAU MALOUF: ***************** Marzouk Mejri vocals, drums, percussion, flutes; Charles Ferris trumpet; Pietro Santagnelo, Tenor Sax; Sasà Priore tastiera; Gigi Scialdone, guitar, electric bass. *****************************
SINETERRA:******** Luisanna Sera vocals, Mario Musetta classical guitar, vocals; Pino double bass; Charles Ferris trumpet.
Influences
John D'earth, Lisa Mezzacappa, Jason Levis, Myra Melford, Mariè Abe, Noam Chomsky, Shoji Goto, Aaron Novik, Robert Fisk, Steve Coleman, Nagoya free improv scene, Antonio Gramsci, Cuong Vu, Otomo Yoshide, Marzouk Mejri, Malouf, Rida Ben Marzouk, Dave Douglas, Henry Threadgill. Antonio Fresa, Gabrielle Mirabassi, Ron Miles.
I
I've led and performed in contemporary improv, jazz, salsa, blues, Balkan, folk, and rock groups in the Bay Area, Nagoya, Japan, and Napoli, Italy. I have performed with many fantastic musicians, many of whom I consider to be close friends. I am a willing collaborator in projects of any genre where I am pushed to engage creatively and through improvisation.
Currently, I am most active performing with the virtuosic percussionist/singer/flutist MARZOUK MEJRI. MARZOUK's first CD was released this summer. Live, the group has taken many forms. Most recently a funky electric 5tet plays original music intimately linked to Malouf (Tunisian Andalusian music), and Stambeli (Southern popular Tunisian music). The group sound is marked by long fluid and linear North African melodies in a texture thick with driving grooves and improvisation. Marzouk’s original lyrics contain a clear social message in varied rhetorical tones. Generally the music is up-beat and energetic aimed to involve audiences who don’t understand Arabic. His lyric contain denunciations of post-colonial tyrants who are pons to far-away powers, and they take on the uninformed fantasies that push many to immigrate in search of an imagined European good life.
Recently, I am busy with SINETERRA SLOWTET, an intimate atmospheric chamber pop quartet that evokes the sounds of an invented Mediterranean. The voice and invented lyrics of Sardinian vocalist Luisanna Sera are the group’s identifying soundmark that weave among three melodic ‘voices’ of double bass, trumpet and classical guitar. I also play regularly with GNUT, a fabulous indy-rock outfit from Naples that plays the songs of CLAUDIO DOMESTICO. When E ZEZI calls me, it is a total rush. I played in DANIELE SEPE’s TEATRO TRIANON MULTI-ETHNIC ORCHESTRA that has since evolved into la Brigata Internazionale. I had the honor to work briefly with the extraordinary mandolinist/guitarist PIERO GALLO whose newest project touches on many traditional sounds well known around the Mediterranean sea and beyond but which also exhibits the firey funk guitar chops that defined Enzo Avitabile’s band for over thirty years. Three Balkan Bands call me to perform on occasion: LA MESCLA, SONSUKA, and the Triestian MAXMABER ORCHESTAR, with whom I recorded at Davide della Monica’s CASA CUMA. My theatrical collaborations include Roberta Biagiarelli and Annalisa D’amato. In the California Bay Area, MARIÈ ABE and I co-led the zany FOUR FLEA CIRCUS. We toured Japan and then briefly re-invented the group in Naples in 2007. The whacky compositions of MARIÈ and the timbral and groove wizardry of JASON LEVIS and LISA MEZZACAPPA make the group unique. I am an original member of THE LARK, a group from the Bay Area that ignited my love for the creative arrangements of indy rock. The group flickered for a short moment last summer in Naples when MATT RAHAIM stopped by. Before moving (temporarily, I think) to Napoli/Naples Italy, the outrageous JAPONIZE ELEPHANTS and QUIMBOMBO’s timba-flavored salsa provided me the most fun I could have reading music. I will be on the fourth Japonize Elephants CD. I had the joy of performing AARON NOVIK’s tricky odd-meter compositions over the course of a couple of years. His many projects and compositions are ever more amazing.
I’ve learned most from the above musicians, but I've also learned a lot from many TEACHERS: I know I am still ruminating on the chunky nuggets of wisdom generously shared by the following people: Myra Melford, John D'earth, Steve Coleman, Henry Threadgill, Gabriele Mirabassi, and Jerome Amend.
charles che gioia leggerti e sono lusingato per i complimenti che mi offri ma quando vuoi suonare sono a disposizione....grazie ancora charles...un abbraccio
Il progetto Arm On Stage nasce nel 2007 dall’intreccio di quattro strade soliste ormai affermate da anni.
Claudio Domestico (già leader della band Gnut), Folco Orselli (vicitore assoluto Musicultura 2008), Stefano Piro (premio della critica sanremo 2000 con i lithium)e Alessandro Sicardi (Ottavo Richter,Max Gazzè,Banda Osiris)danno vita a costanti improvvisazioni per sette giorni ininterrotti in un casolare sperduto tra i monti del passo del Sassello.
Da più di quattro ore di registrato sono nate 9 tracce originali che risentono in maniera nitida dell’influenza di ogni singolo musicista e della particolare libertà espressiva nata da un contesto del tutto inusuale.
Tornati dal viaggio, hanno deciso di coinvolgere altri due importanti elementi, Guido Andreani ai ‘gingilli’ elettrici e Daniele Parascandolo (già batterista degli Epo).
tour 2009 2 Aprile "Doria 83" Napoli 3 Aprile "PompeiLab" Pompei 4 Aprile "Mr. Rolly" Vitulatio (CE) 5 Aprile "Jarmusch" Caserta 8 Aprile "Fanfulla" Roma 9 Aprile "MateriaOff" Parma 10 Aprile "L'Aighesè" Sanremo 20 Aprile "La salumeria della musica" Milano 29 Aprile "Ragoo" Milano 5 Maggio "Contestaccio" Roma
Qualche giorno fà ho ascoltato il sound dei Sineterra dal loro/vostro Space!...mi ha davvero conquistato!! E' musica che agisce direttamente sul cuore..un filo diretto! :)
Have a nice week-end!
Monica
bonsoir charles! il 25 ci sarò sicuramente (ma salirà anche la mia dolce coginetta per l'evento??). tra l'altro il circolo è pure in zona mia, quindi perfetto =) baci e a presto Sà
:( oh, I'm so sorry I missed your show...ancora una volta! :-/...:)ma veramente next time must be the right time! C'è anche una mia amica, sempre delle mie parti, a cui piacerebbe venire ad ascoltarti!e a Piano di Sorrento sarebbe l'ideale...
Ciao Charlie, come và? Io sto molto bene, anche io spero di vederti presto, infatti mi farebbe piacere se qualche volta ci fermiamo per una suonatina assieme... Quando vuoi, ho un altro oud nuovo da farti vedere ed un bel kanun... Fammi sapere sempre cose buone... Ciao... Un abbraccio.. Gianluca
