How not to end an artistic partnership? Simply by not abandoning the band! The Bluebeaters EXTRA TRAX (Caribb Roots Records/Universal)compilation was released for Record Store Day 2024. I took the band’s photo on the back cover. ENJOY!
PLAY
It all began for fun.
REC: We start recording.
Frame after frame, the game evolved.
REC.
Images. And music.
REWIND.
PLAY again.
CUT.
PLAY again.
This is how the Il diavolo e l’acqua santa videos (by directors Matteo Ceschi and Federico Ramponi) were born: PLAYING.
SEE IL DIAVOLO E L’ACQUA SANTA YOUTUBE CHANNEL: https://www.youtube.com/@DiavoloAcquaSanta/videos
(Photo credits: Vincenzo Del Franco)
BACKSTAGE. Dietro alla creazione di “MAC”, il nuovo album jazz di Frank Salis and James Andrews exhibiton (curated by Francesco and Gaia Di Gregorio), Lugano, Switzerland, MARCH 24 – APRIL 5, 2024
In collaboration with NicolaSound 2024
VERNISSAGE + SHOWCASE
Sunday, March 24, 6:30 PM
Atelier Cornici e Restauri, Via Luigi Canonica 12, Lugano, Switzerland
I felt like I knew him. Maybe I had met him at a political rally. Maybe at a live show. Perhaps I simply liked that man stroking his beard because he reminded me of the people on the island of Naxos. Sigá sigá, like the fishermen at the port on a scorching hot day. Sigá sigá, before taking the first note on the piano. Sigá sigá, before thinking of singing the first word. The young people dressed in white observe him, waiting for a first hint. A single movement from the beard to the piano key and the small orchestra starts to play. <…E tutto è stato un regalo, e tutto è stato un regalo…>, the man’s voice is that of an experienced sea dog. Sonic wave after sonic wave he shows to the white-clad crew the land of gratitude that stands on the horizon. There’s still time to sail and sing before landing. The sea whispers new melodies to be sung and played…
March 12, 2024. Hoepli International Bookstore in Milan. Contemporary artist Liu Bolin and his collaborators are preparing for a visual performance… Imagine disappearing… And start observing reality… (Shots taken with FujiFilm X-T1 + 7Artisans 35mm f 1.2)
An explosion of sonic gratitude. Fan Fath al Milanese ensemble and folk singer Vinicio Capossela introduced the audience to a musical ritual whose goal is an ancient ecstasy that can teach the contemporary world a lot. People sang “teach your children” in the Sixties and still want to do it today. After all, we are all children who want to listen to stories in music and dance.
(Special thanks to LabArca Teatro Musica and Sponz Fest)
There was a risk of making something trite… Taking the photo for the album cover of Frank Salis and James Andrews was an exciting challenge. I wanted to simultaneously convey the depth of New Orleans’ musical history and the Crescent City’s strong spirit of inclusion. The good soul of Dr. John was already present in the title. On a hot summer night I thought about Irving Penn’s shots of the hands of Miles Davis. What if those experienced hands had communicated with other hands eager to learn? While I was thinking about that, I was playing with a necklace from the New Orleans Carnival. Et voilà! EUREKA! The hands of James and Frank seal an artistic partnership between cultures and generations. Their hands are spontaneously sharing the soul of New Orleans. The MAC LP cover was done! Frank liked it immediately: <In my opinion it is a brilliant idea that came out of Matteo Ceschi’s brain, perpetually looking for new ideas. The image can be read in many ways, one of which is certainly the passage of something. I would say more of a passage of culture than a simply passing of the baton.>
– Frank Salis and James Andrews, MAC, produced by Frank Salis and Nicolas Gilliet, NicOLAsound Records 2024 © – OUT MARCH 25TH
(Backstage photography: Vincenzo Del Franco e Nicolas Gilliet, Lugano, August 13, 2024)
The promo teaser of single Clap your Hands (NicOLAsound Records) by Frank Salis and James Andrews – recorded in Lugano, mid August 2023 with the precious help of friend photographer Vincenzo del Franco – is now on-line. On a very hot day the video session developed the concept of my cover for the album “MAC” (out on March 25th). ENJOY!
VIDEO CREDITS:
Matteo Ceschi and Federico Ramponi, directors
Vincenzo del Franco, assistant director
Matteo Ceschi, photography
Federico Ramponi, executive producer
By Il diavolo e l’acqua santa & Nicolas Gilliet – NicOLAsound.ch
SONG CREDITS:
Musicians: Frank Salis, Hammond B3; James Andrews, trumpet & vocals; Roland Guerin, bass; Orlando Gilbert, tenor sax; Sammy Cyrus , percussions; Chris Butcher, trombone; Troy Andrews, drums
Recorded on October 18-20, 2022 by Paul Schoen at Buckjump Studio, New Orleans, U.S.A.
Mixed and mastered by Paul Schoen, New Orleans, U.S.A.
Produced by Frank Salis and Nicolas Gilliet
Executive Producer: Nicolas Gilliet – NicOLAsound.ch
THE BOOK TO COME... The history of Seattle music scene hidden behind the silhouette of one of its heroes… STAY TUNED! (Photo credits: Soundgarden, Milano, June 4, 2012)
My cover story for Swiss magazine Pnp, January 2024 issue. I took the photos for the interview with James Senese in typical Blue Note style – before starting the session James encouraged me: <Ué, fammi bello come quelli della Blue Note!>. The chromatic sonic shades of jazz embrace the whole rainbow color palette but… Jazz photography speaks in black and white as Francis Wolff taught…
TELLING WITH MY EYES 