About
One of the most evocative and authentic musical group in the entire world music scene, which was born in Portico (CE), in the heart of rural Campania, on the initiative of Pasquale Romano.
The instruments used are barrels, vats and scythes, used as percussions and articulate archaic processional rhythms, accompanied by traditional songs, linked to the traditional cultivation of hemp in the working earth.
Bottari di Portico Bottari di Portico's way of making music comes from an ancient tradition that tells that farmers, in an attempt to drive away evil spirits from the dark corners of their cellars, frantically beat barrels, vats and sickles, tools used in everyday life work in the fields. This ritual was also repeated outdoors to propitiate a good harvest and during traditional agricultural fairs to highlight the strength of the tools on one side and on the other to attract the attention of passers-by. Founded as a pagan ritual, this tradition merged into the religious feast of St. Anthony the Abbot (17 January), during which boat-shaped wagons were built and decorated with palm leaves, to recall the crossing by sea to reach the Italy from Egypt by the Saint.
On a chariot built in the shape of a boat and decorated with palm leaves, formerly pulled by oxen (nowadays used by agricultural tractors), there is a group of young people ("patrol") who, with bats and sticks, rhythmically beat barrels and barrels while others beat with scythed metal rods. The execution of the "patrol" is directed by whistle blows from a "patrol leader". Special rhythmic models are performed, the violent and obsessive one of the "Pastellassa" and the slow and rhythmic one of the "Musica dei Morti" or of the "Tarantella", on which the traditional songs are sung. In the execution without a wagon, a tradition belonging solely to the "I Bottari di Portico" group, to the rhythm of the barrels and to the traditional song, the use of musical instruments was joined, such as the guitar, the acoustic bass, the recorder, the ciaramella , the violin and the accordion.
In 1989 Bottari performed at the Mercadante theater in Naples in the show by Maestro De Simone "Cantata per Masaniello" together with the Intillimani and the Scarlatti Orchestra. Among the various artistic achievements we recall the collaboration with the director Lina Wertmuller (1990: the initials of an advertisement for the soccer world cup, participation in the film "Io speriamo che me cord"), the recording of a piece with Avion Travel ( "Belle Caviglie", included in the album "Opplà", produced by Caselli), the performance at the May 1st concert in Rome in Piazza S. Giovanni in 1991. In 1997 they performed in Spoleto during the evening of the assignment of the Campus award: in the same year they performed in Greece representing Italy at the Thessaloniki carnival and at the "Thessaloniki European capital of culture" event. In 1999 they performed in Piazza Plebiscito in Naples in the show of M ° De Simone on the occasion of the bicentenary of the Neapolitan Revolution. During 2000, always called to Maestro De Simone, they performed in Palermo during the 374th Feast in honor of St. Rosalia: in 2000 they took part in important ethnic music festivals in Italy, including Summonte (Sentieri Mediterranei) , Torre del Greco (Ethnos), Giove (The sun and the moon), Cefalù (Ethnic 2000), Adrano (Summer under the volcano), Caserta (Leuciana Festival), Naples (The gaze of Ulysses), Nova Feltria (Feste Montefeltrane ), Livorno (Venice Effect), Avellino (Palio della Botte), Noto (The nights of Giufrà). During 2000, the recording of the disc was completed, which included Marcello Colasurdo (vox), Giovanni Coffarelli (vox), Brunella Selo (vox), Gianni D'Argenzio (flute and sax), Gianni Perilli (ciaramella), Luigi Lai (launeddas), Fausto Mesolella (guitar). The album will be released in the coming months with a well-known international World Music label.
From the Terra di Lavoro, the heart of rural Campania, one of the most suggestive musical forms of authentic ethnic tradition.