Tarabuk by Marco Lo Russo and Tiziano Zanotti.

This CD has an enormous value. It leaves the hope that mankind has not completely lost its power of communication, that we remember to listen before talking, that we still know how to converse and the hope that there still lives inside us, a sense of history, of narrative, of legend.

Marco Lo Russo and Tiziano Zanotti express the joy of communication without losing its mystery.

Whatever one wishes to say, this is made to measure music for mankind.

The melodies are so full of breath and warmth, they seem to reach us from faraway, supporting by a life-like pulse.

The accordion dances upon the agile rhythm of the bass but often it is the latter, that whilst enveloped in the sonoric cloud of the accordion, lets itself be heard both in pizzicato and with a knowledgeable use of the bow.

Sometimes these two instruments that usually combine in a very warm expressive way, give way to a rhythm and seems almost suspended in time, thus perfectly in accord with the title of the album.

The Tarabuk is in fact a drum used by the ancient Egyptian peoples for ritualistic purposes. If we add to this use, the function of regenerating tradition and the handing down by word of mouth through the generations, then we can see that Lo Russo and Zanotti have known how to celebrate with their work, the beauty and continuity of life.

It is practically impossible to categorise the style of the ten pieces that make up the CD. Other than this difficulty, any classification would only have diminished the wide cultural scope of this project which, like a huge open door on the Mediterranean, is capable of assembling many diverse influences without ever losing its original style.

This CD is available on the Marco Lo Russo site on MusicForAccordion.com - high security eCommerce site run by WorldPay.com, part of The Royal Bank of Scotland Group

Review by Renato Belardinelli