Justin Adams, guitarist of Robert Plant and producer of the desert blues Tinariwen, and Mauro Durante, leader of the famous Canzoniere Grecanico Salentino, come to Prague with their new album "Sweet Release" (2024), which has been receiving enthusiastic feedback from both critics and listeners since its release. Compared to the previous album "Still Moving" (2021), Adams' guitar is given much more space here, often with distinctive rock riffs and a raw, distorted sound. Adams' vocal qualities also become much more prominent on the album. Combined with Durante's vocals and violin and Southern Italian tambourine playing, the result is a completely unique and innovative fusion of Southern Italian musical traditions with desert blues, American blues and rock music. Their live presentation of the album at WOMEX 2024 was one of the absolute best the festival had to offer.
Justin Adams is a guitarist/producer whose distinctive sound carries the mark of his itinerant life – a childhood in the Middle East led to a lifelong passion for the sounds of the Islamic world, while his teenage UK years instilled a devotion to the raw energy of punk and the trance sounds of Dub. In recent years he has produced acclaimed albums by Fado singer Lina and French-Algerian chanteuse Souad Massi, while his past collaborations with Robert Plant, Tinariwen, Rachid Taha, Sinéad O’Connor, and West African Master Musician Juldeh Camara have been marked by emotional intensity and a “no borders” approach.
Mauro Durante (violinist, percussionist and composer) is a visionary inheritor of the folk roots of his native Salento, in Italy’s Puglia region. He leads the internationally acclaimed and award-winning Canzoniere Grecanico Salentino (founded in 1975 by Durante’s family), playing in all major world music festivals. Durante is considered as a key figure in reinventing pizzica music for today, making “Taranta” the most vibrant and relevant form of Italian roots music. Mauro Durante toured the world for many years with Ludovico Einaudi, and has collaborated with Piers Faccini, Ibrahim Maalouf, Ballake Sissoko, Jovanotti, Stewart Copeland, Sam Lee, Enzo Avitabile, Nickodemus, Red Baraat, bringing a contemporary edge along with his deep feel for tradition.
