"The right distance"

Riccardo Tesi: diatonic accordion
Vieri Sturlini: guitars, voice
Francesco Savoretti: percussion
Sabrina Pallini: voice
Francesco Giusta: hurdy-gurdy
Riccardo Tesi is one of the leading artists of Italian and European folk, among the most authoritative musicians of the international world scene, standard bearer and master of an instrument -the accordion- that we love in a particular way. Riccardo met and played with Franco Lucà when FolkClub was nothing more than a vague project. In these 40 years of mutual knowledge and esteem, the paths that led to the evolution and affirmation of Riccardo and FolkClub have often crossed and overlapped: Riccardo has played several times at FolkClub (this will be the fifteenth), at Maison Musique and in our 'external' sorties, such as at the Occitanica festival, at the Book Fair, at the Rivoli "International Folkdance Festival" and on many other occasions,  often presenting in absolute 'premiere' a new album or a new project and willingly lending himself to our particular projects such as "La Notte degli Organetti" (with Simone Bottasso and Filippo Gambetta in 2009); we proposed it in the 'good living room' in Turin with its extraordinary and acclaimed re-arrangement of the legendary show "Bella Ciao" of 1964 ("Palchi Reali" in Piazzetta Reale, summer 2018) and -last but not least- it is present with a nice interview in the documentary film about FolkClub history, "Infernot", released at the end of February 2023. Therefore it seems quite natural to say that we have the immense pleasure - as well as the great honor - of counting Riccardo Tesi among those we consider true Friends. In perfect symbiosis with his poetics of memory, during his long career Riccardo Tesi has revolutionized the image and vocabulary of his instrument, the diatonic accordion, ancestor of the accordion, to which he was the first in Italy to dedicate an entire album ("Il ballo della lepre" - 1981); he forced the narrow boundaries of popular music to insert him in the jazz and singer-songwriter field (he was the organ player of Ivano Fossati, Gianmaria Testa and Fabrizio De Andrè in his latest album "Anime Salve"). From the decidedly folk beginnings in 1978, alongside the extraordinary Caterina Bueno (to whose figure, fundamental for Italian folk, Riccardo dedicated a record and a series of concerts), to today's collaborations, the musical history of Tesi lives on a precious continuity made of passion, artistic audacity and omnivorous curiosity, which from the Tuscan tradition has accompanied him to the comparison with the Italian ones,  Basque, English, French and Malagasy, with jazz, smooth and songwriting. What is striking in Tesi is the style, clearly recognizable, through which he manages to make the accordion speak an archaic and new language at the same time, expanding the lexicon and technique of an instrument that has long remained the exclusive heritage of tradition. A 'splendidly outdated' choice that inscribes him, for lyricism and virtuosity, to the circle of those who, at all latitudes, have restored dignity to the accordion and its relatives. The musical experiences with the Sardinian-Tuscan group Ritmia, the duo with Patrick Vaillant, the show of Occitan songs "Anita, Anita" again with Vaillant and Jean Marie Carlotti, the trio of accordions Trans Europe Diatonique with John Kirkpatrick, Marc Perrone, Kepa Junkera, the jazz trio with the Nice mandolin player and Gianluigi Trovesi, have expanded the geographical boundaries and musical frontiers of Riccardo Tesi, together with other collaborations of great prestige such as the one with the Malagasy Justin Valì, with the Sardinian singer Elena Ledda, the Umbrian singer Lucilla Galeazzi, with the Sicilian group Dounia, the Portuguese Amelia Muge, the Sicilian Rita Botto, with the harpist Vincenzo Zitello, with the clarinetist Gabriele Mirabassi, the tambourine players Carlo Rizzo and Alfio Antico, with the pianist Rocco de Rosa,  the Lusitanian flutist Rao Kyao, the Portuguese guitar virtuoso Custodio Castelo, with the Neapolitan jazz of Maria Pia de Vito, with guitarists Beppe Gambetta, Reno Brandoni and Peppino D'Agostino, with the ethnojazz of Daniele Sepe, with the humor of the Osiris Band, with rock artists such as Francesco Magnelli, Ginevra di Marco (ex CSI and PGR), Piero Pelù and the Skiantos,  with DJ Ominostanco, up to the great Italian songwriter with Ivano Fossati, Fabrizio De Andrè, Ornella Vanoni, Gianmaria Testa, Giorgio Gaber, Carmen Consoli, Carlo Muratori, Tosca, Cisco, Cristina Donà, Nada, Giua, Peppe Voltarelli and Ermanno Giovanardi. Since 1992 he is the founding leader of Banditaliana, which is currently considered one of the most important formations on the international world scene, with which he recorded 6 albums and celebrated 25 years of activity. In 2012 he created the project "Cameristico", where the diatonic accordion meets the classical sound of piano, clarinet and cello for a series of new compositions accompanied by a reinterpretation of some of the most significant pages of his repertoire. Since 2010 he has been a member of I Samurai, an international accordion quintet with the Basque Kepa Junkera, the Finnish Markku Lepistö, the young Italian Simone Bottasso and the Irish David Munnelly with whom he has recorded two albums and played in major festivals throughout Europe. In 2014 he took care of the musical direction of the re-staging of the historical show "Bella Ciao" on the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary. In 2018 he resumed the historic collaboration with the mandolinist Frances Patrick Vaillant together with the frame drum virtuoso Andrea Piccioni in the project "Capanne con vista", which on special occasions expands to a quartet with jazz clarinetist Gianluigi Trovesi. His nature as an experimenter, constantly looking for renewal, has recently led him to surround himself with new collaborators. On percussion the tightrope walker Francesco Savoretti, who combines the irresistible groove inherited from his past as a drummer, with the colors of frame drums and ethnic percussion, of which he is an authentic master. Despite his relatively young age he already has to his credit very important collaborations, ranging from world music, to ancient music passing through jazz, with an intense international concert activity. On guitars - acoustic and electric - and on vocals, the surprising Vieri Sturlini, who boasts an eclectic training from classical to jazz, from folk to songwriting and various collaborations including Neri Marcorè and the singer-songwriter Giua. With these traveling companions Riccardo Tesi resumes navigation in that imaginary Mediterranean, which has always been his source of inspiration, giving life to an unprecedented show, with new faces and new compositions: a sunny and spicy music, with overwhelming rhythms combined with poetic and evocative melodies. A sparkling and elastic trio, devoted to inclusion, ready from time to time to host on board musicians traveling on the same route. At the FolkClub he presents his brand new album, "La giusta distanza", released in April 2023, which saw the participation, among others, of Ginevra Di Marco, Maria Pierantoni Giua, Claudio Carboni, Gigi Biolcati and Vincent Boniface. For the occasion, Riccardo Tesi's Elastic Trio will welcome special guests on stage: friends Sabrina Pallini (Abnoba) on vocals and Francesco Giusta on hurdy-gurdy.

http://lnx.riccardotesi.com/