HASA-MAZZOTTA (EN)

Redi Hasa and Maria Mazzotta, the Albanian cellist and the vocalist from Puglia, who since 2010 have been reinventing the musical traditions of their birthplaces, present their new album Novilunio. Hasa-Mazzotta consists of two complementary talents who inspire each other in a perfect fusion between the sumptuous, lyrical and introspective sound of Ludovico Einaudi’s cellist, and one of the leading voices of Salento’s musical renaissance: luminous and magical. A combination that pays homage to its origins while engaging in creative experimentation.
Their previous album, Ura – bridge in Albanian – had brought together the two shores of the Adriatic, the Balkans and Puglia, combining different eras and lost languages in a sound as beautiful as the stretch of sea that separated them before. Novilunio – the new moon –  expands that horizon even further. The new moon symbolizes rebirth and new departures. Listening to this album we feel the silent and swelling volume of the moon, and the impulse to find new paths. We can hear the influence of the Adriatic’s eastern shore, not only in Redi Hasa’s compositions and the Albanian song 25 Trecce, but also through the guests : Iranian percussionist Bijan Chemirani, and Moroccan singer and guembri player Medhi Nassouli. The western shore is represented by Maria Mazzotta. Most of the tracks are sung in Puglia’s colloquial language Salentino, but two of them are in French as Maria wished to pay tribute to France where she has been living for the past few years.

Hasa-Mazzotta bring us original and unusual melodies that perfectly fit the concept of this new album: music that heals and regenerates, a new equilibrium.

Novilunio was produced by Alberto Fabris and recorded & mixed by Tim Oliver, at Real World studios, in the UK.