When describing Italian duo Musica Nuda, who will perform at Florence’s Teatro Puccini on November 18, Grammy-winning American jazzman Al Jarreau said, ‘Only two people, so much music.’ The two people in question are soprano Petra Magoni and bassist Ferruccio Spinetti, whom I recently interviewed for The Florentine.
Michelle Davis: Double bass and voice. ‘Bare music,’ as you call it, essential in its composition and ambience. What led you to this kind of musical dimension?
Ferruccio Spinetti: We met purely by chance during a jam session among friends almost 13 years ago. We played ‘Roxanne’ and were totally blown away by the way we immediately clicked artistically. In time, we came to understand the importance of silence in music. If you think about it, pauses are actually an important technical part of musical notation. It’s through this intimate and minimal approach that we are able to freely range between genres.
MD: You have covered all kinds of genres, from reggae to rock to ’60s pop. You sing in Italian, French and English. How do you choose your songs? Tell me a bit about your new album, Little Wonder.
FS: We have covered Monteverdi, The Beatles, Gloria Gaynor. From the beginning we didn’t set any kind of musical boundaries; we choose songs that excite us first as listeners, then as musicians. However, our last two albums, Complici and Banda Larga, both released on Blue Note Records, featured original and previously unpublished tracks written by us and other musicians. So with the new LP, Little Wonder, we decided to turn back the hands of time and land right where we started 13 years ago, playing covers, but with the additional awareness of an extra 12 years and the experiential wisdom that comes with about 1,000 concerts worldwide. We fished out songs from the most diverse repertoires, from Bob Marley’s ‘This Love’ to classic Édith Piaf tunes. An important feature was also Sting’s ‘Practical Arrangement’: although it’s from one of his most recent albums, it has acquired a ‘standard’ quality for us because of its harmonic beauty and profound lyrics.
MD: After 13 years as Musica Nuda, how has this experience changed you? How has the Italian music world evolved during this time?
Petra Magoni: Although Musica Nuda is our main focus we have been involved in other musical ventures. Ferruccio has various bands: Avion Travel, Italo-Brazilian InventaRio and a theatrical production with Italian actor Tony Laudadio. I have been working on a number of side projects, like the live rendition of Duke Ellington’s Sacred Concerts and another duo with talented archlutist Ilaria Fantin. Over the years we have become more and more aware of our key strengths, even though we were the first to be surprised by our success in the beginning. The Italian music scene is actually quite healthy. What we are lacking is not musicians but spaces where new and emerging bands and solo artists can showcase their talents. This slow and seemingly inexorable change is directly connected to the decreasing value of music and the increasing importance of appearance. Talent shows embody this phenomenon quite blatantly: regardless of all the talents involved (and I am sure there are many among the participants) the shows create unsubstantial puppets, public figures that rise to the top and disappear within a few months. I am happy that we, Musica Nuda, are living proof that music can be done in another way. Everyone has to follow his or her personal path. There are many other possibilities.
MD: On November 18 you’ll be live in concert at Teatro Puccini. What’s your experience with this city?
PM: Florence—Tuscany in general—has always been an important birthplace for music: from classical to pop, from jazz to rock and indie. This fertile environment has fostered the growth and the consolidation of a diehard base of curious and attentive music lovers and concertgoers who are able to appreciate both new and old. Just recently I was in Florence to perform a tribute to John Cage with other musicians. It certainly wasn’t the easiest concert to listen to—we improvised a lot and tackled Cage’s sometimes irksome scores—but the room was filled with people just dying to delve into unknown and unusual musical territories.
Listen to MUSICA NUDA here.
