Gruppo Folk Internazionale
Saluzzo, Italy
1977/06/23

UNCIRCULATED

01_Stornelli laziali
02_Introduction#1
03_Union maid
04_Introduction#2
05_Orange blossom special
06_Introduction#3
07_La fontanella
08_Introduction#4
09_Brother Did You Weep
10_Introduction#5
11_Gasta E Magla
12_Introduction#6
13_Pod Goroi Rasli Zvietocki
14_Introduction#7
15_Kolo croatian dance
16_El Quinto Regimiento
17_Introduction#8
18_I morti di Reggio Emilia
19_Introduction#9
20_Dona Javiera Carrera
21_Introduction#10
22_Sentite buona gente
23_Introduction#11
24_Irish dance
25_Se non li conoscete
26_Introduction#12
27_Szerelim Szerelem-Hol Jiartal Az Jiel
28_Introduction#13
29_Moldava
30_Sida ruda
31_Daloy politzei
32_L'Internazionale
33_Avanti popolo
34_Union maid (encore)

This concert was recorded by my father on a tiny portable recorder in 1977 and forgotten for 40 years until i decided to digitally transfer it from the original master tape (an Audio Magnetics C-90 cassette) and post it on dimeadozen.

Gruppo Folk Internazionale were a group of singers and instrumentalists that in its original lineup consisted of Mariuccia Colegni, Maurizio Deh�, Claudia Gallone, Paolo Oniga, Moni Ovadia, Roberta Zanuso. The group referred to two types of experiences: the first consisted of the northern Italian research work done by some of the components that previously were part of the Popular Group of the Almanac, and this matrix drew the commitment of stylistic fidelity to the popular modes of expression; the second experience was derived from the encounter with the English musicologist Ewan MacColl who was able to provide the members of the group his concern to combine rigorous research and the militancy in the cultural field. The group's repertoire ranged from Italian folk songs to Slavs, British, Latin American, Yiddish, as well as songs by authors such as MacColi, Woody Guthrie and fight songs from various parts of the world.

This is a very, very rare live recording of this group: a time capsule to a period of italian history in which young people were highly politicized and politically active. At the end of the concert you will hear people singing along the socialist/communist hymn "Avanti popolo" (Forward people, also known as "Red flag"), and some guys at the end evoking loudly the name of Mao Tse-Tung. Such as in Area concerts of the period, the italian version of the "Internationale" anthem is sung at the end of the set.

Aside from politics, this recording can be appreciated for some very good, almost philological renditions of folk traditionals from all over the world. At the time the group had published his first album "Festa popolare" and was about to came out with his second album "Daloy politzei". Moni Ovadia, one of the founders of the group, is a popular figure in Italy (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moni_Ovadia).

All the introductions to the songs are in italian, but i made a synthetic translation in english so if you don't understand the language you can at least know what the guy is saying.

Introduction#1: "We played a popular stornello from the italian region of Lazio that was passed to us by a communist herd, Dante bertolini, who knows a lot of this songs. Our repertoire is made of international popular folk songs from the workers class. The next song is "Union maid" and was written by Woody Guthrie, the greatest american folksinger, just after the great depression."

Introduction#2: "The next song is an imitation of a train made by a violin. Trains were pivotal elements in the development of north-american economy and culture. Trains were also used by the poor hobos to move during their search of a job, often without paying."

Introduction#3: "This a trallalero, a popular song tipycal of Genoa. It's about a young female who takes water at a fountain and knight who wants to pay for her beauty. But she is a smart girl and puts the knight to sleep with some sleeping potion, while stealing his money. We also must use tricks to defeat those who have power."

Introduction#4: "Imagine a small village in which a chemical factory causes an enviromental disaster, something like that happened in Seveso with dioxine. This song was written by Ewan McColl and it's about the mass defoliation that happened in Vietnam caused by napalm."

Introduction#5: "The next song is from the new record that will come out in a few weeks and that will feature east-european songs, a kind of music always neglected by our cultural framework which is full of north-american influences, often guided by big companies who force people to listen only to a certain kind of music. This is a bulgarian partisan song based on a traditional melody."

Introduction#6: "The next song is a russian anti-fascist song written in a german lager, and is about a boy and a girl who loves each other but must separate during the war."

Introduction#7: "Dance is an important part of popular culture, as long as it expresses the feelings and the aspirations of the people. This is a kolo dance coming from Yugoslavia, Croatia."

Introduction#8: "In 1960 in Italy the Tambroni government, backed by fascists, went down after a few days thanks to the protests of the people. A few young comrades died, the next song (The fallen of Reggio Emilia) is about their sacrifice."

Introduction#9: "The next song is 150 years old and is about a chilean woman who fought against the spanish for the independence. The meaning we would like to give to the song is a contemporary one."

Introduction#10: "Some of the most important folk songs of Italy are about the mondine (rice weeders), popularized in our neo-realist movies like Bitter rice and pop music. But this is also a political and anti-militaristic song that was born in the collective groups of workers who worked and lived together in barracks."

Introduction#11: "Ireland has a very florid popular culture with dances and songs that you can hear in the pubs were people drink and sing together. In this song we use the popular violin, and the spoons."

Introduction#12: "The theme of these two hungarian songs is love: the first one is about passion who brings lovers to destruction and misery; the second is about carnal passion seen through metaphors of the nature. In the last one we play this instrument which is called dulcimer."

Introduction#13: "In the '60s jazz music was opening to foreign sounds coming from outside the Usa, especially with the re-discover of Africa by young blacks. This song is almost jazz in his structure."