A fascinating mix of genres, described by vibraphonist Mike Mainieri and producer as “Italian folk music meets American jazz".

LEUCASIA-Featuring:
Mike Mainieri: vibraphone,
George Garzone: tenor saxophone
Umberto Papadia: vocals, tammorra, nacchere (castanets), percussion
Barbera Eramo: vocals
Paolo Innarella: soprano saxophone, flutes, ottavino, ciaramelle
Marco Omicini: keyboards
Stefano Micarelli: acoustic and electric guitar
Pino Sallusti: acoustic bass
Marco Ariano: drums, percussion
Iginio De Luca: percussion, vocals
Fiore Benigni: organetto
Paolo Vinaccia: percussion
"The story behind the making of Leucasia"
The introduction:
The formation of the group Leucasia was the result of a culmination of factors that led to the release of this recording. In my case, I’d have to journey back to my memories of Italian folk songs blaring from phonograph records that wafted through windows and doors into the streets of the Tremont section of the Bronx, New York in the 1940’s. In my particular household, the sounds that emanated from our radio and phonograph were that of jazz artists from the 1920’s to the1940’s. Just as impressionable to me as a child, were the sights and sounds of traditional Italian folk music and dancers that performed at feasts, weddings and funerals, combined with tales of mythological heroes and heroines which were infused into my consciousness as a child. Not until the 1960’s, when I began a professional career as a touring jazz musician, did I have the opportunity to hear the music from different regions of southern Italy first hand. Fast-forward 40 years to 2002 and with the help of my friend, legendary saxophonist George Garzone, who introduced me to Italian composer, pianist, promoter and historian, Marco Omicini,
did the seeds of this project begin to culminate and grow into the formation of our group, Leucasia.

The seeds:
Marco had been booking George’s trio, The Fringe, for several years. But when George began recording for my label NYC Records, it presented us with an opportunity to collaborate on several projects, my solo album and four of George’s albums. We also began touring together in various quartets and in an invitation to tour Italy by Marco; we began a series of duo tours.

The formulation:
As our friendships grew, so did the concept of the group Leucasia. Our idea was to integrate two genres, Italian folk music and American jazz. The opportunity presented itself in the summer of 2003 when a promoter in Rochella, Italy became interested in presenting Leucasia at his festival. Marco then began organizing a group of Italian musicians who were not only excellent improvisers but were deeply rooted in the ancient tradition of Italian folk music. So began the process of sorting through a wealth of music and then confronting the challenge of writing some original compositions that would not only compliment an ancient music but also work in the context of both genres with the ultimate goal of propelling the music forward. There was one catch. We only one day to rehearse in Rome, and soon as we began playing, something magical took place and we left Rome with a feeling of great anticipation. But what awaited us the following night in Rochella was completely unexpected and ultimately led to the recording of this album.

The concert and recording:
There were several thousand people in attendance for a rather lengthy production of “Aida”, rearranged in a Bossa Nova style for full symphonic orchestra and vocals. What seemed strange was that this ‘featured act’ was opening evening’s concert. My first thoughts upon witnessing the huge production in progress, was that our group, ‘Leucasia’, was booked as an after thought since we were to follow the performance of “Aida”. After their finale and bows, we immediately set up our instruments on stage and our percussionist and throat singer, Iginio De Luca, started our concert with the rattle of various percussion instruments and began singing a throaty low pedal tone that allowed Umberto Papadia to begin the call and response with Barbara Eramo, which is featured on the opening track, “Mettece ‘A Mano Toia”.

Even those who had already left the theatre but were still in earshot, which prompted them to return and join those who sat in their seats enthralled, heard the first strains of these mysterious aural sounds. The trance had begun.

As the singers continued their a cappella magic, the rhythm commenced with a startling slap of Umberto’s tammorra which set our tempo and signaled an invitation to Stefano Micarelli’s guitar, Pino Sallusti’s acoustic bass, Marco Arianio’s drums, and Paolo Innarellla’s snake-like lines on the ciaramelle (an ancient double reed instrument) to join in the first strains of the many pizzica’s we were to perform at the delight of the audience that night.
At the end of the first song, as the last strains of Umberto’s Jews harp disappeared into the night air and intertwined with a clapping audience, we began the second pizzica, “Fanni la Gracia” which features an introduction by Paolo’s ciaramelle in concert with Umberto’s vocal, which set the stage for saxophonist George Garzone to step up to the mic and begin a ‘Trane-like solo over the pizzaca’s vamp which sent the audience literally into a wild frenzy and within minutes, people were dancing in the aisles.
We left the concert just floating on the energy of the entire experience and made plans to record an album with the help of friend of Marco’s, the late Biagio Pagano, who owned a small studio in Rome. Biagio put two days aside for us to record Leucasia’s first album and we collectively dedicate this album to the memory and loss of a dear friend.

The legend of Leucasia.
At Marco’s suggestion, the groups' name, "Leucasia", comes from an Italian legend. Leucasia is known as a siren that seduced sailors passing between the Ionian and Adriatic seas with her seductive songs and beautiful voice. Sailors upon hearing the siren immediately fell into her trance, only to be devoured one by one. Story has it that Leucasia tried to seduce Melisso, a young sailor who lived on the coast but rebuked her advances because of his devotion to his true love from his village. In a rage, Leucasia kills the two young lovers and then in a moment of remorse locks herself inside her castle in the sea and commits suicide. This sad tale emanates from the tales of Homer and the Greek legacy of literature. Leucasia comes from Greek word "leucos", meaning white. In the coastal area where Leucasia lived, there exists today the town of Santa Maria di Leuca, with white houses and structures, a name that mixes the sacred and the profane.

The compositions:
There are several traditional pieces on this album, like the Sicilian song "Le Tre Sorelle", where we mixed both traditions into the arrangements but still reflect the musical integrity of the culture. Out of this marriage of musical genres we structured Leucasia’s original compositions which were based on the Lydian scale, the ‘mother’ of Italian folk music, as we attempted to mirror what we felt was a reflection of the music of today.
We are all deeply indebted to Marco Omicini’s research, compositions, and to
Umberto Papadia, who did an incredible job, writing lyrics and also providing the research within the traditional forms,. He, along with Barbara Eramo, deftly sings in the different 'dialects' that the majority of Italians cannot fully comprehend. Their use various dialects; Neapolitan for "Miettece a Mano Toie", Sicilian for "Le Tre Sorelle", Calabrian-Albanian for "Tonni Tonni", Salentinian for "Fanni la Grazia".
Marco, who is Roman, explained to me that the almost incomprehensible slang for “Ce Kalanta”, common only in the southern part of Puglia is closer to Greek than Italian. An exciting example of magic of this music is embodied in the song "Fanni la Grazia”, an atypical ritualistic form of trance music derived from southern Italy called the tarantella or la tarantata whose origins date back to the Middles Ages, with traces of a similar songs that can even be found in Magna Graecia.
It is in the humble dwellings of these small villages where the locals speak a dialect of Albanian, Greek and southern Italian that this music first came to life.