On the sleeve notes of Viterbini's new album, there is a quote from Herman Hesse, stating "A good artist is destined to be unhappy in life: whenever he is hungry and opens his bag, he finds only pearls".
From a music fan's point of view, it is absolutely vital for the future of music that there are artists out there, hungry enough and able to confront themselves with other musicians playing different genres and willing to challenge their music roots. With Film-O-Sound, Viterbini has certainly achieved this goal and written his personal masterpiece.
The album is a total homage to what, very quickly get defined as "World Music" but in reality, carries much deeper music values and sound structures. It's almost like a sonic journey through different cultures, pitched perfectly by Viterbini's appreciation and understanding of music in its globality.
His slide guitar sound moves graciously from the almost dreamy version of Five Hundred Miles, with just guitar and piano, to the vibrant Americana/Folk-ish original from Viterbini called Bakerlite, with the Italian artist dueting splendidly with Stefano Tavernese on violin.
The record carries so many pleasant surprises. Viterbini travels around the globe with his different variations of music tempo on Film-O-Sound. Malaika transports sweetly the listener's mind between Cuba and Hawaii, with such class that even an original Mariachi would bow at the way the Italian guitarist's penned this old classic.
Tunga Magni and Welcome Ada are two little gems that add an extra spice to this already very palatable record. Viterbini has been working lately with many African musicians and his music has been very inspired and influenced by the sinuos sounds coming from the Sahara Desert and the Tuareg community. His friendship with the World Music Maestro Bombino showcases an highly interesting music combustion, when the slide guitar of Viterbini and Bombino's National Guitar intersect their vibes and fuse together in perfect alchemy.
Mondo Slack Key and Nemi are two originals that would make Ry Cooder a very happy man. Viterbini's acoustic guitar sound is so light and flawless that, just by closing your eyes, it feels like walking magically on thin air.
Film-O-Sound is a total expression of what Viterbini is all about. An artist willing not to seat comfortably in his artistic niche but prepared to challenge himself and his music credo with other fellow musicians, managing perfectly to combine different sound fragments coming from different styles and cultures in a formidable sonic mosaic. A fine labour of love for music.
Giovanni "Gio" Pilato
Film-O-Sound can be purchased via Amazon