Search - Joe Barbieri :: Maison Maravilha

Enter the House of the mild magician...

Paolo Paludetti | 09/16/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"2009 has marked for italian singer Joe Barbieri the fulfilling of a new personal

achievement, following his "In parole povere" (2004) with an even more mature effort.

With a timeless, enchanting sound that quietly claims for his belonging to present, Barbieri is renowing the italian melodic tradition by delicately drawing the musical perimeter of an House of Wonders that waits only for mindful accomplices to visit: we're not in a Bocelli kind of place, there's no triumphant orchestration here to substain a sorta of expected mainstream plot, Barbieri leads a truly different vocal approach that yelds his songs an aerial and mild dimension, an almost totally selfpenned songbook his fans well know to be the more honest and personal to date in Italian musical scene today.

The french suggestions of Henri Salvador ("la muraille de chine") along with jazz and bossa nova flavoured tracks ("fa' conto ", "fammi tremare i polsi"), soothing fado ("malegrìa", a duet with cuban iconic singer Omara Portuondo) and the declared reverence for the noblest italian musical stuff, with the likes of Ennio Morricone, Nino Rota and Paolo Conte (Barbieri's joyful cover version of "Wanda" is among the 11 tracks here) also show the neapolitan singer's easiness in paying pure homages to different musical heritages; his skill to hang around in the intimate yet lustry beauty of the arrangements and orchestration goes directly where the core of a song is meant to go. No way to escape from the fascinating spell songs like "tacere/parlare " or "normalmente " softly speak to us. There's any sensationalism among these notes, only emotion: Joe Barbieri needs attention, and "Maison Maravilha" is a true gem.



Paolo Paludetti"