Mediterraneo is the latest full length record from Neopolitan pianist and composer Bruno Bavota. There are many reasons one might assume the theme of the album is the sea – the title, the vibrant blue-green hues of the impressionistic cover art, the location of Naples on a bay that opens into the Mediterranean Sea, and the fact that Bavota’s last album was called Secret of the Sea. Perhaps the sea cannot be ignored as a presence and influence, but Bavota tells us that is not what Mediterraneo is about at all:
“Mediterraneo has nothing to do with the sea. Mediterraneo means warmth, the flame of the soul, which keeps us alive. Mediterraneo means light, the light of the heart, the only spark that can enlighten darkness. Mediterraneo is love at its highest moment, cosmic love, the one kind of love that connects but doesn’t merge. Mediterraneo is sharing, the natural act that makes us human and lets us embrace each other. Mediterraneo is chasing… dreams, expectations, contentions… but above all it’s chasing truth, as the fulfillment of one own inimitable song.”
Bavota recorded Mediterraneo in one day and totally in the dark, an experiment done at home alone and then represented during his Japan Tour last March. Music and inspiration was clearly flowing allowing to create a beautiful and varied collection of songs. It might be too limiting to simply refer to this as modern classical. One of the things that makes Bavota’s music unique is that rather than just create a mood or set a scene, his compositions are imbued with the vibrancy of life itself. Using tempos and rhythms that feel just as much like dialogue as music, he tells us stories and converses with us. Bavota is not just making music – he is using it as a tool to make human connections and celebrate shared experiences. All of this makes Mediterraneo a refreshing and uplifting record that is a joy to listen to.
Mastered by Jason Corder (aka Offthesky) and with cover art by Abby Lanes. Mediterraneo is available from Dronarivm in two CD editions, a standard digipak and a limited redition packages in in a silk-screen printed envelope with 3 handmade cyanotype images in a frames (55 copies).
More info: http://dronarivm.com/2015/04/19/bruno-bavota-mediterraneo/
Order: http://dronarivm.bandcamp.com/album/mediterraneo
Featured track: ‘Who Loves,Lives’
Stationary Travels 