Patrizia Laquidera in the US. Mediterranean Rhythms on a Brazilian Background

There is a place in the world where Brazil and Italy are neighbor countries It’s a note,  a voice, the soul of a singer, Patrizia Laquidera’s. The Italian artist mixes up traditional sounds of both countries to create a complete new rhythm, that she will present at the end of July in Seattle, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and New York City. In occasion  of her US debut, she will perform wit Brazilian singer and songwriter Céu, known to the American public since 2007.

 

Born in Catania, Sicily and raised in Italy’s Veneto region, Patrizia fell in love with Brazil from a very young age, and set her artistic course through a transatlantic musical love affair, connecting Italy and the Iberian peninsula with South America.  Her writings and performs have always mirrored this long-lasting passion, being a captivating pan-Latin mix of Italian, Portuguese and Spanish.

 

Patrizia’s career had a definitive boost in 2001, when she debuted in Para voce querido cae (For you dear Caetano), interpretations of Caetano Veloso songs inspired by her sojourn in Rio de Janeiro.  The great success came soon after that with Indirizzo Portoghese (Portuguese address), the singer’s second disc, that already featured collaborations with well-known Italian musicians such as Avion Travel’s Fausto Mesolella.

 

Although the upcoming tour will represent her absolute debut in the United States, Patrizia is not new to this country. Her most recent album, 2007’s Funambola (Tight Rope Walker) was produced in New York City by Arto Lindsay and Patrick Dillett.  It features musicians such as Mauro Refosco (David Byrne, Forro in the Dark, Bebel Gilberto) and Smokey Hormel (Beck, Tom Waits). Funambola also includes compositions by some of Italy’s leading new-generation writers such as Pacifico and Joe Barbieri, that together with Patrizia’s originals become the essence of maybe the most eclectic and original artistic product she launched.

 

Her career as a musician, however, is not limited to album reliesings. Patrizia’s voice can be heard in film and television soundtracks in Italy, Spain and Portugal.  A musician’s musician she has competed in Italy’s Premio Tenco and Sanremo Festival, Italy’s two leading events for both critics and the public.  A seasoned festival performer, Patrizia was chosen by fellow Catania native Carmen Consoli to appear on an all star-women’s tribute concert at 2007’s Etna Fest.

 

Patricia’s New York debut will see the participation of two of the artists she has shown to appreciate the most. The first being CéU, the second Lorenzo Jovanotti, the most popular Italian contemporary singer, who is giving weekly concerts in the city since June.

On the eve of her arrival, we had a chance to talk to her about this upcoming debut, her music, and her future projects and dreams.  


 

How do you feel about your debut in the United States? What does this country mean to you?

My artistic career owns much to America: I recorded my album Sonambula here, and it is quite exciting for me to sing my pieces  for such a public. I feel  like I am bringing my album back to its origins, to the place where it belongs. I actually already sung in this city ones, but it was just a very small participation to a concert. Anyway, I could still feel that the people loved what I was introducing them to,. I didn’t expect such a worm welcome, and this made me consider the opportunity to come here for a solo concert. I am very curious to see how people will react to my music.

 

You are going to sing in two very small, intimate clubs. Is there any particular reason that made you choose those venues?

It is because I love to “share” my performs with the public, I love intimate places where I can actually talk and communicate with my audience.

How much are you known outside of Italy?

My foreign audience has always been very generous with me. Ten years ago, at the beginning of my career, I already gave concerts in Spain and other foreign countries such as Ecuador. But I always came back to Italy, because I felt I still had to learn too much before leaving. Now I feel that the time has come, and I have the necessity to go away. Today Italy appears to me as a microscopic country, sometimes too small for a music as international as mine, where Mediterranean sounds are blended with European and South American.

 

Has your music somehow changed during this years?

Yes, before I was much more interested in exotic sounds, while nowadays I am studying and researching on Italian traditional and popular music. In my first album “Indirizzo Portogherse”, indeed, the Brasilian rhythms were predominant. In my latest pieces, instead, Italy is much more present. That is because I feel a strong sense of my nationality now, and I know I am not Brasilian. Lately, I am listening to 1950s Italian music, getting more familiar with its melody. I am quite sure that my next album will be deeply influenced by this latest…”passion”.


Beside that, I am working to realize another album dedicated to popular music, and I will call it: “Il canto della Anguana”., the Anguana being a mythological figure in the Veneto tradition. I will sing in Veneto antique dialect, and will blend this popular music with .other traditional and local  rhythms, coming from Italy, Spain or whatever other area.  

Patrizia Laquidara New York Tour Dates

7/19        Zebulon Cafe (258 Wythe Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11211-3914)

7/20        Nublu*  (62 Avenue C, New York, NY 10009-6916)

7/21        Highline Ballroom (431 W 16th St New York, NY 10011)

*Special Guest of Jovanotti & Soleluna NY LAB