Souvenir d’italie

“Souvenir d’Italie was created back in 2004, and this year we will celebrate 11 years of music together. I had the idea of creating an acoustic music combo with the intention of enhancing and promoting Italian auteur music.

My name is Gianmarco Banzi, and I have had many experiences with blues, swing, standard jazz, auteur music (with groups such as Sughè Sughessa, Modern Combo, B!folk, and Fragil Vida, which is still active) for whom I have always played the piano. I started playing the accordion as a laugh after I bought one. I fell in love with this amazing, dynamic instrument which has such a captivating sound. I then bought a more professional accordion, which led me to more frequent experiences with bands such as the Tupamaros, Guido Foddis, John Strada, Marco Sforza and many others, with whom I recorded a few albums”.

Maurizio Sgarbi, the guitarist of Souvenir d’Italie, like Gianmarco follows on from experiences
with Sughè Sughessa. “A world-wise and historic Finalese group, specialising in American Swing and blues from the 1940’s and 1950’s. A swing guitarist like Joe Pass, and in my opinion a guitarist who is unlike any other on the circuit at the moment.

Fabio Govoni, a total music enthusiast, with a distinctive and original voice. He is currently involved in many different projects; original music (Bluestress), tribute music (Evolution, Pearl Jam tribute) and cover groups. With Souvenir d’Italie, he has had the chance to “learn” a different repertoire, one that is sophisticated and distant from previous experiences. He has confronted the greatest vocal auteurs and with unusual styles, every day it has become more and more stimulating.
This, combined with the instrumental expertise and cultural baggage of Souvenir leads to a confrontation that is constantly developing, and is a new passion that grows with every concert.

Miriam Mazzanti, meanwhile, has a distinctly blues background. She has a warm and winding voice, that is supple and generous, and that is profoundly harmonising. Before working with Souvenir d’Italie, she only sang Aretha Franklin, Soul, Motown and music of that ilk. When I asked her if she wanted to be a part of our group, she said that she did not know if she would be able to sing certain things and whether she would enjoy singing them. Well, after a while, she is now so enthusiastic that she only wants to sing with us. The vocal harmony that she has with Fabio in our group is very pleasant, effective and very special”.

Antonio Torello, on bass, is a friend who shared a few Modern Combo experiences with me in the past. This was another Finalese group from a few years ago that always focused on Italian songs with a more electric sound, but with a specific idea. Antonio is a great bass player, who is very precise and has great taste, which in a group with no drummer is crucial for keeping us all in rhythm. He has also performed and produced recordings in swing and blues with various bands, although in his musical past a group such as StudioBaker emerged, where “experimentation” and “progressive” were the watchwords. Now, along with Souvenir d’Italie he has led the Accademia dei Fluttuanti in the progressive environment.

We are five people with five very different musical backgrounds, but united by a passion for good Italian auteur music. The initial idea was to produce the most beautiful and sought after songs from Italian songs – and there are many – arranging them in a jazz-folk style, with tones that can sometimes move towards bossa nova or tango, beguine, the ballad, swing… The idea that we wanted to convey was that of good music that was produced when the Certa Quartet were the leading group on the Saturday night broadcasts. And to think that that music was called “pop music”. Imagine!”.

So, here are the Cetra Quartet, Renato Carosone, Paolo Conte, and then Ornella Vanoni, Luigi Tenco, Eugenio Finardi, Van Wood and many others. All of this was produced with instruments like the accordion, bass, guitar and two vocals. In essence, it is Italian music with the flavours of Fellini, with references to La Dolce Vita…”.