Ton's Musical Musings: Mancuso brothers

During a recent trip to Italy I had the pleasure of being introduced to two great musicians who not only treated me to a wonderful Sicilian meal, but also taught me a few things I had been completely unaware of. The Mancuso brothers hail from Sicily, but emigrated to England in their late teens, where they worked in various factories to escape the poverty of their home village. It was there, and later in Spain, that they started to explore the possibility of blending the vocal tradition from their roots with various other genres and styles, such as Andalucian music and jazz.

While Sardinia and Corse have become widely known for their unique form of folk polyphony, a similar tradition from Sicily is still very obscure. Enzo and Lorenzo write their own material and to date have worked with some of the very best musicians from Italy, such as clarinetist Gabriele Mirabassi, accordionist Luciano Biondini, and trumpeter Enrico Rava. Of special interest is their collaboration with Spanish multi-instrumentalist Luis Delgado on the cd "Trazzeri".

The Mancuso brothers made a cameo appearance in Minghella's "The Talented Mister Ripley", a film that also features some of their songs. Even though they don't have a web site yet, you can find several references to them and their music on the web. Look for "Fratelli Mancuso". Their cd's have been released by Amiata Records and Open Folk (www.funjdiaz.net)