Muzings by Muz

The BEE-GEES are back, Italian-style!

     I have just returned to France from a Mantra Workshop in Cosenza, southern Italy. And what a talented group we had! Among them were musicians, voice trainers, a maestro musician and yet again (as I often have in Italy) two opera singers! The vocalists found that the style of mantric intonation and the breathing exercises were extremely helpful for increasing their voice register, as well as helping them towards peace of mind.

           The Bee Gees: Pasquale, Walter (me) and Davido 

       It was also a tremendous pleasure to be with the Italian Bee-Gees pop group, who are justly famous in Italy. I was royally hosted in their family restaurant The Belvedere, overlooking the sea in the coastal resort of Paola, in full view of the still active volcano Stromboli just across the water in Sicily. The three brothers, Pasquale, Walter and Davido, began an impromptu concert and I was delighted to spend a whole afternoon singing along and jamming with the Bee-Gees Tribute band.

       I have to tell you, these guys are brilliant! I found their harmonising and falsetto arrangements quite fantastic. And way up there with the originals, if not more amazing! Their singing instils a great joy in the listener. The original Bee-Gees manager in the UK has now taken an interest in them and hopefully soon British audiences may be in for another real treat — the ‘Return of the Bee-Gees’ and then some!

     After their incredible vocals, I was somewhat embarrassed when they insisted on me playing my unprofessional renderings of ‘The Rock Island Line,’ ‘When the Sun Goes Down’, ‘Freight Train Blues’ and ‘The Wreck of the Old ‘97’ from my cassette ‘Willow in the Wind.’ But they manfully took it well, despite my many mistakes and fumblings for the chords and words, since I only usually get time to play the guitar on my Birthday or Christmas.  But even the Bee Gees father seemed to happily appreciate my efforts and patted me on the shoulder, endearingly calling me ‘maestro.’

With the Bee Gees family, old friends and students

   

Although my baggage was left in Rome between flights (apparently a daily occurrence; thanks to the usual efficiency of the airport handlers) and on my way back I had to get up at three o’clock in the morning to catch a flight from the south up to Rome (and then spend five hours nodding sleepily in the airport awaiting my connection; or goggling aghast at the shop prices – 35€ for a pair of socks! — and taking advantage of my kumbhaka breath retention capacity whilst using the somewhat aromatic Italian toilets); despite all, I have come away with a heart-warming memory of my time in Calabria on the toe of the Italian ‘boot’; from the loving organisers who felt they could never do enough for me, to meeting old friends and my encounter with the Italian Bee-Gees, who I am more than happy to add to my ever-growing family of newfound friends. 

 

 

 

     Now it’s head down and back to hacking away at the backlog of emails that have piled up since I was on the road (and in the air).

Swaha!