Traveling with a guitar – For our trip I purchased a Mahogany Baby Taylor travel guitar. I already own a full-size Taylor, so I knew that the quality would be good. Aside from being one of the best values for the money, the reviews also indicated it was fairly easy to get onto flights. Anyone who has traveled with an instrument knows it is largely hit or miss these days. Some carriers are very difficult, and others are more lenient. There are no guarantees, and each trip is different with changing regulations.

I am happy to report that despite all of my anxiety, I ran into absolutely no problems with my Baby Taylor while traveling on US Airways and Meridiana (small carrier to/from Sardinia). I lucked out on the random security checks, but each flight I was able to bring it into the cabin and stow it overhead. I had one humorous encounter with a security person who wondered what my capo was, but that was easily explained (thankfully because I bought it in Rome and it was expensive compared to at home).

It’s probably best to keep tuners and capos in your checked luggage (I did except for that one time). I had extra strings, but kept them in my checked luggage as well for fear that someone would accuse me of carrying a weapon. No guitar tools of course. Also, remember to detune before flights. And pack a copy of “Rise Up Singing” just in case.

Numerous distractions have kept me from posting my final thoughts on my musical experience in Italy. The launch of Shivasongster.com earlier this year took a lot of time and gave me a much easier way to post journals, but then other things like BU classes and recording experiments took over. I was considering moving our entire journal to Shivasongster.com, but the task was admittedly pushed further on the priority list.

Finally, while on vacation in Maine, I am able to sit down and collect my thoughts. Just as I am usually recording one CD while writing material for the next, it seems I need a vacation just to write about the previous one.

I’ve decided to just keep the same format used on MINDSPEAK.COM using a Dreamweaver template. In doing so, I am reminded of exactly why I wanted to switch to a better method. This is so antiquated, but it will need to do. I currently do not have Internet access, but at least with the Dreamweaver template I can prepare everything offline and upload it later.

It’s worth reiterating what I said on my review of our travel agent:

“My own personal pet peeve was that Hidden Treasures seemed to be completely oblivious to any specifically musical offerings along our way, and did not go out of their way to make that info available. I realized that they were not a world music travel agency, but I just expected more. Next time I would seriously consider using Songlines Music Travel operated by The Tailor-Made Groups Company, which only recently formed after our plans were made.”

Reading that a year after the trip, I don’t think it was harsh. Every other aspect of the travel agent’s performance was top notch, but I remain disappointed in the lack (or cheesiness) of the musical experiences we found.

In terms of what we’d do differently (and what I plan to do for future trips overseas), we would plan better for more music. I made the conscious decision that our trip was a vacation – not a tour, so I wasn’t interested in performing in any official capacity, though open mikes would have been welcome. I knew going into this that our travel agent did not specialize in musical interests or destinations. I knew we’d have to seek out venues and performers, but I underestimated just how much digging was necessary.

I heard rumors that Italy was a bit off the path for many artists, but it wasn’t the large touring acts that I wanted to see anyway. Jethro Tull was coming through (they are big in Italy), but of course I have seen them several times in the states.

I felt like I missed a lot of the local flavor, mostly because we stayed on a rather touristy schedule that did not allow for many late nights (when most clubs actually start up). In both Sardinia and in Ravello we missed music/culture festivals by mere days. But to say there were no musical experiences would be inaccurate. So in an attempt to end this journal on a positive note, I offer the experiences that did occur:

Aside from the pleasant atmospherics of the occasional accordion player (which I expected), Rome was a disappointment. There was street music of course, but so much of that is for the tourists with rehashed versions of “Volare” and “That’s Amore”. Finding a venue where musicians gather to interact on the main streets or even off the beaten path was difficult, if not impossible. One day we went on a wild goose chase (many blocks) looking for a jazz club that I had read about, but it turned out to be closed. Our coliseum trip yielded a behind the scenes look at how they set up for a concert, but our itinerary did not take that venue into account as a possibility to see a show (I’m not even sure who was performing).

One of very few music stores in Rome we were able to find - to by a capo.

Stage at Ostia Antica

On arriving in Capri, we heard opera singing coming from an opera festival that was winding down. This was pleasant, but not the sort of thing we were interested in exploring further given our timeline.

Looking back on the pictures and the trip as a whole, the Positano region, including the nearby town of Ravello, was the most musical of the trip. Our first night in Positano, we saw a street band perform… quite literally in the street, precariously positioned on a windy corner typical in the town.

Watch out for the accordion player!!

Later, I played a few songs on the main square of Ravello, and some other tourists took my picture, perhaps thinking I was one of the locals. Shortly after, a wedding party came out with their own guitarist and mandolin player.

Later that same night we went to a club to see a tarantella show that we saw adtertised on some flyers around town in Positano. Note to self: Never pay 14 euro to get in to a club. While that cover may include your first drink, you are going to need to drink a lot more to offset the cheesy PC-backed opening group with pre-recorded dance music, and the mediocre gothic dancers. We left after 30 minutes, cutting our losses.

During our next day in Positano, the only music was a piano player at a restaurant playing instrumental American stuff and jazzy interpretations. Despite the two previous rather disheartening experiences, our third and final night in Positano turned out to be the best. Eugenio Bennato’s performance at the Marina Grande was one of the top shows I’ve seen anywhere, ever. It was the highlight of the trip in terms of live performance.

Taranta Power included two female singers, one Arabic rapper (who also played oud), a percussionist using a foot pedal for bass trigger, guitarist, and a bassist. There was a guest female vocalist toward the end, but I was unable to determine her name. From her flamboyance and the crowd’s reaction, I suspect she was at least moderately famous. Guitarists traded mandolins and mandocellos. Some of the music seemed political from my limited understanding of the language. I was one of the 800-1000 people on the beach within arms reach of the band. Incredible.

I visited their website after getting back (www.tarantapower.it) hoping to get some more info on the performers, but they did not reply to my inquiry. Though it makes little difference, I still do not know just how popular Eugenio Bennato is in terms of nationally or internationally. For all I know he could be the Italian equivalent of Bob Dylan. If so, I probably should not be surprised at the lack of a reply.

Sardinia also held some musical experiences, but not in the way I was expecting. One of the appeals of Sardinia, based on prior research, was the resonant, guttural folk singing that I had heard on CD prior to the trip. I could compare it to a form of chant, close to Bulgarian folk singing in terms of its haunting texture, but it really is its own thing. I hoped that I would get an opportunity to at least see some performances, or (even better) record or learn something about the music directly. As with most of my musical hopes for the trip, this was not to be. We were near Aggius, which had a vocal group (Coro di Aggius Gallurra), but there were no performances during our stay.

My consolation prize was a collection of CDs that I picked up throughout the trip, and a better understanding that music does not just “happen” as organically as one might hope when you are not traveling with other musicians.

Bella Ciao - Italian Combat Folk for the Masses by Modena City Ramblers
Safari by Jovanotti
Secondo Tempo by Ligabue
Taranta Power by Eugenio Benato
Lu Palti no M’appena by Coro di Aggius Gallurra
Tenores di Bitti (self titled, also from Sardinia)
Le piu Belle Canzoni della Sardegna (with cork CD insert)
In Italia Si Sta Male (Si sta bene anziche no) by comedian Paolo Rossi

In an effort to help save others from the same musical fate that I experienced, here are some resources from worldmusiccentral.org that I found after our return. Alas they were all at different times or places than our trip.

Annual festival held in January:
Progr. Dir.: Erasmo Treglia
Via Macedonio Melloni 9
00146 Roma, Italy
Tel:             +39 06 646 07 14       
Fax: +39 06 646 07 14
info@lazampogna.it
http://www.lazampogna.it www.lazampogna.it

Annual festival featuring Italian folk and world music
Centro Servizi Cultural S. Chiara via Santa Croce 67
38100 Trento, Italy
tel. 0461-986488
fax 0461-231044
E-mail: info@centrosantachiara.it
E-mail: info@itinerarifolk.it
http://www.itinerarifolk.it

The Festival Musicale del Mediterraneo takes place in Genoa (Genova), Italy. The festival is a celebration of different cultures and artistic expressions coming from all over the world, with particular attention to the relationship between traditional and contemporary sounds.

Associazione Echo Art
Salita Porta Chiappe 32
16136 Genova, Italy
Phone:             +39 010 211548       
Fax: +39 010 2541343
Email: echo-art@libero.it
web: http://www.echoart.org

Festival Latinoamericando is dedicated to the music of Latin America: Salsa, Rock en Espanola, MPB, Cuban Son, etc. It is held from June through August.
Prog. Dir.: Franca De Gasperi
Viale F. Baracca, 40
Arona (No), Italy
Tel : +39 03 22 47 679
Fax: +39 03 22 24 03 97
info@latinoamericando.it
http://www.latinoamericando.it www.latinoamericando.it

Also, look up the music festival in Ravello and performances at the Coliseum.