Biography
Quartetto Areasud was formed in 2010, initially for fun and as an evening pastime. The group performs traditional music mainly tied to Sicilian and Calabrian cultures, without forgetting that these territories have for centuries lain at the center of the Mediterranean, a great broth in which the musical ingredients of peoples who share a common destiny and identity are cooked together.
The instruments they use come exclusively from the traditional repertoire and are carefully chosen from the best makers, yet the performance of the pieces is not strictly philological: it leaves room for personal interpretation and for that ongoing process of composition and re-creation which is typical of orally transmitted music.
The quartet features Franco Barbanera (flutes and bagpipes), Giampiero Cannata (bass and vocals), Maurizio Cuzzocrea (chitarra battente, ukulele and vocals) and Mario Gulisano (percussion, jaw harp and vocals). Three of the musicians come from the world music groups Nakaira and Oi Dipnoi, with which they have toured extensively in major international circuits; they are joined by Calabrian folk singer Maurizio Cuzzocrea, who has built his identity at the most important folk festivals in Italy and abroad.
A rich repertoire of tarantellas, in which zampogna and friscalettu are absolute protagonists, sits alongside ritual songs, fables and serenades that tell, through sound and native language, a piece of the history of the musicians themselves, of ordinary people and of those who came before them.
Among their works are the albums "Musica lievemente tradizionale" (2021), "Dorandismo" (2024) and the acoustic-electronic crossover "Areasud Electric Roots" (2024).
