Amazing Grace, che mi ha fatto attraversare l'oceano e tornare a casa con un tesoro musicale immenso...

Ecco, questa doveva essere una ghost track, una traccia non prevista e aggiunta in fondo a tutte; un omaggio semplice e poco appariscente, volutamente scarno; la voce nuda, il puro suono dell'humming, il mio confondermi con i due tenori nel far loro da supporto... Avevo scelto per questo la tonalità di La bemolle, per me molto scura (così da permettermi un suono molto sgranato e più strumentale, molto pieno di fiato e subarmoniche) pur rimanendo morbida.

Invece poi Patty Coker ha decretato che doveva essere messa in luce, e non nascosta, e ne ha parlato nelle sue note di copertina. Ciò che per me era canto intimo dell'umile gioia, per lei era divenuto il brano simbolo di tutto il nostro lavoro.

Per me che avevo chiesto a Jerry Coker ed Ira Sullivan di seguirmi in questa piccola nuova avventura, era stato il mio ringraziamento alla fine della registrazione del disco, alle 5 del mattino e a 24 ore della mia partenza back to Europe. Dopo mesi di creatività, swing e blues, amicizie profonde, esperienze musicali ed umane indimenticabili, ripartivo verso "casa" con un disco finito, un disco davvero piovuto dal cielo, come tutti i suoi angeli musici.

Mentre cantavo " 't is Grace has brought me safe thus far, and Grace will lead me home...", piangevo coi lacrimoni, e credo che nella registrazione si senta...

Tutti conoscono lo standard jazz Autumn Leaves, ma pochi sanno che in realtà Les Feuilles Mortes è una poesia di Jacques Prévert musicata da Joseph Kosma...

Con il chitarrista Mark Boling abbiamo pensato di utilizzare il tema per costruire un'introduzione armonizzata a tempo rubato, al posto dell'introduzione originale, che invece abbiamo usato come coda per chiudere il brano, riprendendo l'andamento rubato dell'inizio.

Mark è letteralmente impazzito a riarmonizzare l'intro, perché io non canto mai le stesse note e lui è abituato ad accompagnare cantanti più "fermi". Alla fine però si è divertito a seguirmi nelle mie evoluzioni in studio, specie nei momenti in cui descrivo vocalmente le onde del mare in cui si perdono i passi degli amanti...

Mi piace molto la serenità con cui mi accompagnano Mark, Rusty e Keith. Mentre cantavo sentivo molto rispetto e profondo ascolta da parte del trio. Il risultato a mio avviso è molto "live", con una bella energia crescente e reale, come se invece di essere in studio con le cuffie e separati da un vetro, fossimo stati registrati durante un concerto.

From Pithecanthropus e Altre Storie, with the Andrea Avena Group (1990):

As a professional musician, I had already been teaching vocal techniques for eighteen years (working with classical opera repertoire, contemporary music, jazz, mantra and nada yoga chanting, and overtone singing) when suddenly I bumped into a new adventure.

It began, of course, by attending a lecture given by Alberto Tedeschi in July 2002. I was listening very carefully to all this new information, when he said: “So, you’re a singer. Would you like to do an experiment with your voiceà”
A few months later I went to my doctor for a normal audiometric check up, and the astonished doctor replied “Oh, it seems as if you’ve changed all your technique, the results are completely different… actually, looking at the diagram, your MUSIC has changed…!”. It was absolutely true.

I’ve been working with W.H.I.T.E® technology for more than three years now, using them in my work with singers and actors, and I can tell you that this technology works with bodies, voices, and resonant spaces!!! When I leave home to hold workshops and concerts, my whole set of Lights, tiles and Piastras always travels with me. After arriving at the classroom, jazzclub or theatre, I usually have time to carefully place four Piastras/tiles in the corners (or more, depending on the shape of the room or hall I’m working in).

Then I flash the Light I’ve chosen for the day from my set all around the room. I prepare a glass of water, “rephase” it with the same Light, and drink it. Finally, I begin to vocalise, filling the space with vibration, but “rephased” because of the water I’ve been drinking.

I have noticed that when I sing after drinking the “rephased” water, not only does my whole body become more vibrant and indeed tuned with that special level of Light/water, but also the whole environment. Even the glass on the pictures, the walls, the windows, and the objects around the room will soon be answering with the same harmonics in an enhanced way. Especially when working with the “higher” Lights, such as Vortex or Infinity, the air becomes lighter and therefore singing is easier. The space seems to lose its limits, and the sound is freer: you need less strength, which is the very right way to get a nice, natural sound. I can actually see and hear how much calmer and more confident my students are. They feel at ease in a space that has been “rephased” in this way.

Working in groups becomes peaceful and naturally creative and the learning process is easier and more fun. This enables students and performers to discover that in fact limits are a thing that lives only in their minds and not in their bodies and souls… For my students, as well as for myself, it is an opportunity to work on both technique and consciousness. This for me means working on the true artistic aspect of our singing.
Very soon during our laboratory experimentations we all noticed that singing a new sound meant sounding a new aspect of our consciousness, changing our minds forever about the peculiar connected aspects of our life and thoughts - quitting false images. This was at once a safe journey with a new serenity towards our deepest Self.

Using the Lights for working on performance is also astonishing…The concerts I’ve given after “rephasing” myself with Lights have been very special. Special, not only for me, but for the musicians and audience as well. Even without knowing that I used a “rephased sound” to sing and improvise, the things people tell me after a performance are always connected with some aspects of a newborn consciousness. I’ve also been working with actors seeking the characters of the play from the depth of their bones and belly, looking for a special resonance inside themselves. Their true voices come out clear and shining …

During several recording sessions the sound waves on the screen of my computer were evidence of the difference, not merely a subjective sensation. The quality of my voice completely changes by enhancing certain harmonics when I use different W.H.I.T.E® Lights. This occurs every time in the same way. A certain wave ALWAYS corresponds to a certain Light.

The work on rhythmic exercises and music is great fun after having been “rephased” with Black Light and Morpheus. These Lights improve the body’s ability to sing and give the students a more direct approach to a sound that uses their bones, internal organs, and muscles. I generally use the “higher” Lights for myself, however, since my musical search, although rooted in jazz singing, is travelling somewhere else. I’m fascinated to rediscover it again and again each time I perform - connecting with the infinite fields of energy of my ancestors, singing so as to sound deeply, the universe.