Music and healing Claron Mazarello goa...@hotmail.com
Traditional music has been used to heal people; like for instance, a therapeutic ritual called Tarantism last spotted in Salento, south west Italy around the sixties. It is based on the principle of bio energy, where bodily stress creates a psycho-physical imbalance which is then harmonized by a specific type of music with a consistent frenzied rhythm. "The rhythm of Salento is also called Pizzica, which was this rhythmic music played by live musicians and the dance that follows these rhythms thus allowing a natural healing to take place," mentions Salento born Andrea Presa from the tribal psychedelic world fusion live band called Transalento. Salento, a big area in the Puglia region that recorded the last of these therapeutic rituals that also happened in other parts of the world, holds the origins for Transalento. "When in London at the age of 20, I fell in love with the dijeridoo," a story of Presa's passion unfolds, that ultimately had him travel to Australia in 1998 to learn more about this aboriginal instrument and its allied culture. Transalento have just released their 5th music album in Goa this March 7th titled, Kali Mirch, as in black chili. A new age styled band, that has one founder and leader with many musicians as part of this band, but who gig as per proximity convenience, just like music groups like Goatika, right now they are a trio. Kavita Soni from Mumbai is on vocals and also dances Hindustani classical moves to Transalento grooves and then there's fusion guitar magic by our very own Elvis Lobo. While the first album Bunda in 2005 and the next called Natural Trance in 2007, were predominantly acoustic sounds, albums post these had effects processors and electronic gadgets on board. Andreas plays the dij (short form for Dijeridoo) and the facebase, which is the electronic version of this very aboriginal instrument. "While in Salento, I played traditional music for many years, with Transalento. Then on I had many musicians of different styles performing in big and small festivals around Italy and India. Eventually, I started to get involved in social rights and then began to write lyrics of protest, love, devotion, and to preserve human and land rights. Slowly I also learnt how to create with lap top and fx machines and began to like the mix of real instruments with electronic. Music then started to get different colors." So Transalento, in its form today is a world-fusion musical journey mixing the Indian spiritual chants and original compositions with Dub, funk, hip hop, contemporary dance music, the ancient voice of didjeridoo, Mediterranean songs and fusion guitar magic. The band somehow never fails to inspire dance, ‘in a ritualistic atmosphere of liberation,' as its online description suggests, apart from a firsthand experience. Andreas returned from learning about didjeridoos and aboriginal culture, living with aboriginal communities and tribes, making didjeridoos, listening to the stories of the elders, listening to nature, imitating the sound of animals, learning new chants and other such indulgences, in 2002, when Transalento got born. "Transalento's specialty is to put together different styles and musical languages, and enhancing the power of groove with ethnic melodies. The music gets inspired from all sorts of tribal minority around the world who try to keep their identity as "people of the land" not contributing to global destruction in any way. Somehow the tribes are always in danger, wherever they exist. But they too have all rights like all of us.' Andreas first came to India in 2004. "But I was in Goa only for 2 weeks. His desire to fuse traditional harmonies of India and Salento brought up a collaboration called INDO PIZZICA with Bengali Singer Sonali Chakraborty a few years later. I am now looking forward to research musical roots of tribals from Goa, before indulging in a fusion here as well," he claims, as he's been around in Goa and playing gigs ever since 2007. It is thus safe to say that musicians from Salento and India collaborate in the new album Kali Mirch, with Kavita Soni and Elvis Lobo joining Transalento in 2013. And they have been doing music festivals the world over, ever since. Incidentally, the pretext of tarantism, to keep the condition of the one undergoing healing discreet, is that the sufferer is bitten by the tarantula which is a poisonous spider and that's why the dance that follows. The slant for Transalento's music is one that delves in shamanic healing through music. Tarantism uses scientifically sound concepts of meditation and music therapy. And while Tarantism is extinct, in more recent times, this concept has been re-adapted by newer philosophies like that of Osho's dynamic yoga exercises also used for healing and few more alike. Transalento is a new age derivation of the same given the types of rhythms created by Andreas, coming straight from his hometown where his heart is. Even more interestingly, this is a type of healing that comes from within and not externally. So now you can just dance your troubles away! ============================================================ "The music gets inspired from all sorts of tribal minority around the world who try to keep their identity as "people of the land" not contributing to global destruction in any way. Somehow the tribes are always in danger, wherever they exist. But they too have all rights like all of us." ============================================================ BOX ITEM 2 THE BAND: ANDREA PRESA didjeridoo, facebass, percussion, electronic beats, KAVITA SONI vocal and classical dance, ELVIS LOBO guitar. DISCOGRAPHY OF TRANSALENTO: BUNDA 2005, Natural Trance 2007, went electronic with NOVA 2009, Ritorno alla Sorgente 2012, Kali Mirch 2015. DOCUMENTARIES FEATURED IN:Underground su RAI 3 (national channel) by Pietro Baul, Racconti di Vita su RAI 3 (national channel) by Roberta Cerqua. BOX ITEM 3 TRANSALENTO ALSO PLAZED AT NATGEO music channel (SKY TV), D.I.A.F. festival -INDIA HABITAT CENTER New Delhi (India), "La Notte della Taranta" Event in Salento (South Italy), U.K. Sonica contemporary music festival a Napoli (South Italy), Festival dei suoni Mediterranei in Trani (Bari), GOA, Blu Frog New Delhi (India), Santa Domenica traditional LIGHT Festa in Scorrano (Salento), Leoncavallo C.S. Milano (Italy), Rovereto Festival (TR), BOX ITEM 4 Among great music maestros, Transalento has jammed with world famous contemporary music composer Ludovico Einaudi, the Taranta Orchestra on an Italian and European tour, interlaced his sismic didjeridoo original sound with the Cora african master Ballakè Sissoko, with Dulces Pontes, Justin Adams, Goatika creative lab and is in a 12" vinyl single track production with Gaudi whom he worked with when in London. Apart from these, there were musicians from Africa, Europe, Asia, UK, Russia, Switzerland, Ibiza, Delhi, Mumbai, Australia, Qatar, Portugal, and Goa, among others.