Perpetual Change — Le Sorelle Marinetti

Le Sorelle Marinetti is one of the more interesting groups I’ve come across for quite some time. The group is comprised of three vocalists — Mercuria, Scintilla, and Turbina — and they hail from Italy. They specialize in 1930s-40s era music that was popular in Italy and the U.S. They even dress the part. Backed by the Orchestra Maniscalchi (under the direction of Christian Schmitz), they sing close three part harmony, and the overall effect is pure big band sophistication.

The group’s name is taken from the work of the early 20th century creator of the cultural movement called Futurismo, Filippo Tommaso Marinetti. “Sorell” means sisters in Italian, and Le Sorelle Marinetti likes to pretend they are related to the late futurist.

I contacted the group’s agency and they returned answers to the interview questions; they also included several of their CDs. One of the albums is the Christmas EP project entitled Note Di Natale, which we will definitely review since, well, it’s almost that time again, isn’t it?

Another album, Signorine Novecento is also part of this review. A full, in depth interview with Le Sorelle Marinetti will be posted after the first of the year. For now, to help start the holiday spirit rolling, let’s take a close look at their Christmas project, Note Di Natale. (Notes of Christmas.)

Produced by Giorgio Bozzo and Christian Schmitz, the project presents four tunes, two sung in English and two in Italian. The “sisters” English tunes are Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow (written by Sammy Cahn and Julie Styne, 1945), and Winter Wonderland (by Felix Bernard and Richard B. Smith, 1934). While Le Sorelle Marinetti sings in English with a slightly discernible accent, it’s not something that distracts from the performance. Kind of charming, actually. With the orchestral backing, both English language songs are given a very impressive, traditional big band feel. You don’t have to be from that era to be able to appreciate great sounding Christmas music. Very few performers are putting out this quality of music any more, and this is a welcome change to what passes for Christmas music most years.

The two Italian language songs are Recordati ragazzo (which translates to “remember boy”), and Arcobaleno, or “rainbow.”

Ricordati is presented with three part harmony, accompanied only by piano. Arcobaleno is actually Over The Rainbow, sung a cappella by the sisters.

Of course, we all know this last tune from The Wizard Of Oz, originally recorded in 1938 by Judy Garland. (Over The Rainbow music by Harold Arlen, lyrics by E. Y. Harburg.)

Note Di Natale is one of those unique Christmas albums, albeit hard to obtain, that’s a real treat from the season’s usual fare. Okay, so hold that thought, because the “…hard to obtain..” aspect of Le Sorelle Marinetti segues nicely into the next review of another of their albums, Signorine Novecento ( or Twentieth Century Ladies.) Produced by Giorgio Bozzo, this project also includes the Orchestra Maniscalchi under the direction of Christian Schmitz. This isn’t a Christmas project, but I decided to include it here simply because it’s so well done, captures the sound and spirit of mid-20th Century big band, and is just plain fun to listen to.

Okay, so I can’t speak Italian — not even going to pretend I know a single word. I found a couple online Italian to English dictionaries that helped with song titles and basic information. So, to the “sisters” of Le Sorelle Marinetti, if I got something wrong, my apologies.

This project contains 14 tunes, the last of which , Arcobaleno, was also included on the aforementioned Christmas EP, as also was Ricordati ragazzo. Musically, some of the tunes were instantly recognizable . The sisters version of Chattanooga Choo Choo (Il Treno Della Neve, which according to the translation I found means “the train of the snow”), stays true to the original 1941 Glenn Miller version (written by Henry Warren and Mack Gordon.)

The 1948 Nat King Cole hit Nature Boy is immediately recognizable, and as mentioned earlier was also found on the Christmas EP. Written by Eden Ahbez, here the song is called Ricordati ragazzo (or Remember Boy). Just for the fun of it, check out the various versions of this tune found on YouTube.

There’s a very strange one by David Bowie. It’s worth the time it takes to find it.

But, I digress. The other extremely recognizable song is the 1930 Cole Porter Love Sale, which is entitled Ma Perché? (which can be translated to mean either “but why” or even “because.”) Once again, this is excellent big band material that’s probably the closest thing to the original most people now will ever hear, in any language.

As I stated earlier, the interview with the members of Le Sorelle Marinetti will be posted after the first of the year, and maybe followed by another project review. Until then, there are videos of the gals on YouTube, they have a presence on Facebook and Yahoo Music, and can be contacted through their agency at [email protected], or their website.

ALSO THIS MONTH

Today, as this article gets posted, Lady Gaga is set to release The Monster Ball Tour at Madison Square Garden on DVD and BluRay, as well as Born This Way The Remix and Born This Way The Collection. Gee, just in time for black Friday, what a coincidence.

I know it’s late to report anything on most of the National Transgender Day of Remembrance events around the country, but I do feel we need to say THANK YOU to all the non-trans supporter our community has who have participated in the various services and other events all over the place. Long time supporter, producer and musician (from NYC) Robert Urban performed at the 8th Annual Long Island Transgender Day of Remembrance event on November 20th. It wouldn’t hurt to send Robert a quick thank you through www.roberturban.com.

Trans musician Melissa Clark will be performing at Colgate University in Hamilton, New York for their TDOR observance on November 29th. For more information, contact Melissa via email.

Calpernia Addams always has something unique and interesting happening on YouTube. Her latest definitely fits under the “…and now for something completely different” category. Anyone who is familiar with Cal’s past history knows that she served in the Navy way back when. Her current video/slide show offering revolves around the recovery of a WWII era plane wreck in Alaska. Check it out-great photos from one of the Aleutian Islands. And thank you, Cal, for all you do and for your service to our country. (www.calpernia.com/military and YouTube.)

Yolanda, a.k.a. Roger Anthony Mapes, has announced the formation of a gospel concert ministry that he is calling Rev. Yolanda’s Old Time Gospel Hour. For more information, please email Roger.
Thanks for your indulgence!

Tags: featured, music, Musician

Category: Music