It wasn’t just a concert, and that would have been enough. On the stage of the Grand Hotel Billia in Saint-Vincent, in the late afternoon of Friday 31 May, a real musical and theatrical show was staged which thrilled the audience. Sala Monte Bianco ‘sold out’, starring the musical group Woody’n’us: Fabio Gorlier on the piano, Alessandro Maiorino on the double bass, Marco Breglia on the drums and the reciting voices of Laura Righi and Marina Vettorato, whose performance inaugurated the ‘We Want Jazz’ review, six free concerts between now and December, curated by the artistic consultant and jazz pianist Beppe Barbera and organized by the Casino de la Vallée Marketing Office team and the staff of the Grand Hotel Billia.
Music and words characterized the Woody’n’us concert-show dedicated to some unforgettable scenes from films by the great Woody Allen.
A project developed by the trio Breglia, Gorlier and Maiorino, Woody’n’Us offered a repertoire of music and words that allowed us to relive the New York director’s memorable atmospheres in a theatrical context, in an engaging game of dialogues and sounds.
Our thoughts turn to the extreme care that Allen, a great jazz enthusiast and musician, has always put into choosing the music for his films, a wide and varied repertoire where timeless jazz standards go hand in hand with pieces from the classical, melodramatic and ‘avant-garde and where the authors range from Cole Porter to Gaetano Donizetti, from George Gershwin to Sergej Prokofiev, while the reciting voices intersperse the songs, sometimes intertwining with them, hilarious dialogues taken from some of the most famous films including ‘Manhattan’, ‘Take the money and run’, ‘Agreements and disagreements’ and ‘Everyone says I love you’. At the end of the concert, two hours slipped away in which time seemed to stop, hands-on applause for the original and very pleasant quintet.
After each ‘We Want Jazz’ concert it is possible to taste a themed aperitif at a promotional price of 10 euros; for yesterday evening the ‘Heilwood’ cocktail based on Bourbon whiskey was proposed. Almost all the spectators welcomed the invitation; many flocked to the bar room, where, sipping an aperitif accompanied by tasty appetizers, they were able to discuss the concert/show in a mutual exchange of opinions and conviviality.
The second concert is scheduled for Thursday 20 June: ‘Chickalese Forever’ will tell the story of the art and virtuosity of Chick Corea and will see on stage Pierre Dalle on guitar, Gianluca Gallucci on double bass, Fabio Saccavino on drums accompanied by the voice of Davide Conti.
On Wednesday 31 July, it will be the turn of the musical group ‘Trio Sonata’ with Carlo Nicita on flute and albisiphone, Eloisa Manera on violin and Tito Mangialajo Rantzer on double bass. On Wednesday 18 September we will listen to the notes of the ‘Beppe Barbera Quartet’ which includes, in addition to Barbera (pianist, composer and musical arranger), Gianni Virone on tenor and soprano sax, Matteo Ravizza on double bass and Mattia Barbieri on drums. The penultimate event of the event, set for Wednesday 16 October, will see the ‘Sonia Schiavone Trio’ perform, with the voice of Sonia Schiavone from whom the band takes its name, together with the guitar played by Alessandro Chiappetta and Gianni Virone on tenor and soprano sax . The event will end with the concert on 12 December by the ‘Jazz Ladies’ with the voices of Elis Prodon and Paola Mei, Fabio Gorlier on piano, Davide Liberti on double bass and Gianpaolo Petrini on drums.
To book your seat in the room for free online click on https://www.eventbrite.it/e/904608718027
For information: 0166.523261, [email protected].
Also consult the address https://www.billia.it/eventi/and the social channels Facebook and Instagram @grandhotelbillia
HERE IS THE VIDEO INTERVIEW WITH BEPPE BARBERA, ARTISTIC CONSULTANT OF ‘WE WANT JAZZ’
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