What if we played Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown) by the Beatles? Maybe we could also add a pinch of Syd Barrett’s flair and the Byrds’ psychedelic melodies. A touch of Jefferson Airplane wouldn’t hurt. A sitar announces the psychedelic storm coming from Quebec… The choice is ours not to protect ourselves from the Elephant Stone’s sonic atmospheric spirals… (All photos taken with FujiFilm X30)
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!
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)
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…
Milan, January 19, 2023: A rainy evening. The windshield of a car. Three friends chat. Everything seems blurry from inside… FUORI & MOSSO…
A new frame for a new tour (Non sento più Tour hosted by Kashmir Music) with… the amazing The Bluebeaters… The photo session (see below) dates back to June 1, 2023, during the show date of Trinity Tour.
The collaboration with The Bluebeaters goes on: A black and white frame (taken at Blumusica, Turin, Spring 2022) chosen for the cover of the new single Trinity originally recorded by Italian composer Franco Micalizzi. Musicians portrayed in black and white on a red background: A classic.
TELLING WITH MY EYES 