Tre martelli ::: Car der steili

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Tre Martelli (seminal northern Italian band) has been on the scene for almost 30 years now. They are also a valuable point of entry to the musical traditions of Piedmont, because, over the years, they have patiently reconstructed the folk music heritage of the geographical triangle between Monferrato hills, Langhe hills and Alessandrino plain, with extensions into the mountainous Canavese and Quattro Province areas, gathering together a huge repertoire of drinking and ritual songs, ballads, instrumentals and dance music including brando, monferrina, curenta, burea, scottish, mazurka, waltz, polka and many others.
The group's ethnomusicological research, conducted together the cultural association TRATA BIRATA, as well as being a model of scholarly precision, also stands as a heartfelt acknowledgement of those singers and musicians from whom they learned their material - and who they regularly visited as friends, shared concert stages with, and even included on their records. 
The quality and accuracy of its field work, and the attention given to stylistic variations in the area, together with energy and creative maturity of the band’s performances, have engendered enthusiastic audience response and critical acclaim, both at home and abroad.
This has resulted in a huge increase in concerts, tours, performances in national TV’s and Radios (B.B.C., R.A.I., etc.), not only in Italy but also in the most part of Europe.
The band’s recorded output has been unanimously acclaimed by specialist international critics writing in the world’s foremost music publications.
It all began in Alessandria in the Spring of 1977 when three of the members of rock-jazz band Angostura, originally founded in 1974, (Lorenzo Boioli, Renzo Ceroni and Enzo Conti), decided to experiment with new acoustic sounds, interweaving ethnic influences with medieval and renaissance music. 
And so to the existing Angostura mix, the trio added the flutes and recorders that Lorenzo had been collecting over the years as well as some ‘family’ instruments (the fiddle and melodeon that had belonged to Enzo's great-grandfather, and Renzo's father's mandolin) laying down the foundations of what would be the group's future sound. The first months of rehearsal resulted in a short concert where the group was asked to set to music a story written for Alessandria schoolchildren entitled La leggenda dei tre martelli (the legend of the three hammers) which was also to become the group's new name. 
By one of those odd coincidences that some choose to call destiny, it was only some weeks later that the Tre Martelli project really took off, when Angostura had all their instruments and PA stolen, marking the end of the rock-jazz group and the coming together of its remaining members (percussionist Marco Goggi and guitarist-bassist Riccardo Maso) in the newly formed Tre Martelli. 
In February 1978 Riccardo left the group. His replacement was ‘country’ guitarist, Claudio Gigli who was joined by the cellist Roberto Cavagnoli. Shortly afterwards recording began on a demo-tape, Danza di Luglio, featuring a number of tracks rooted in Piemontese folk music, which soon became the group's exclusive focus. Their repertoire was based mainly on the ethno musicological studies of the Tratad Birata Cultural Association which were starting around that time, and the group began to operate under the aegis of this association. 
Thus began a long season of concerts which saw frequent changes to the group's line-up including the departure of Marco and Lorenzo, the latter hooking up with a young band called La Ciapa Rusa for the recording of their first ‘historic’ record. Joining Tre Martelli meanwhile were singer Bernadette Da Dalt from the Susa Valley, flautist and clarinettist Franco Pierino, and the young fiddler Andrea Sibilio. 
It was this line-up which recorded the 1982 cassette Trata Birata. The band subsequently began touring abroad, leading to further line-up changes: out went Roberto and Franco and in came Gianni Ricci on hurdy-gurdy and flautist Paolo Lodici for the albums Giacu Trus (1985) and La Tempesta (1987). For these recordings the band were joined by other musicians who would become longtime collaborators, both as ethnomusicological consultants and as guests on records and on tour: multi- instrumentalist, singer and composer Domenico Torta; the great jazz accordionist Gianni Coscia who had fallen in love with folk music; and singer Vincenzo ‘Ciacio’ Marchelli who became a full-time member from 1988. 
In 1989 Claudio left the group to go back to playing country music, while Lorenzo Boioli (fresh from his experience with La Ciapa Rusa) was lured back for good to the ranks of the Tre Martelli during a tour in the UK. It was thus in the form of an octet that the group went in to the studio to record the CD Brüzè Carvè, the first available from the Felmay.
Tre Martelli subsequently recorded another two basic CDs with slightly modified line-ups, Omi e Paiz (1995) and Car der Steili (2000) (see reviews extracts), and in 2002 the band celebrate the 25 years of traditional songs and dance tunes from Piedmont with the anthology Semper Viv: “This is a lovely album of excellent material, none of which (I think) has ever before appeared in CD format, played and sung by a really nice bunch of people whose warmth and enthusiasm jumps straight out of your speakers. Highly recommended.
Rod Stradling
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Lorenzo Boioli - flute, ocarina, bagpipe
Renzo Ceroni - bass, guitar
Enzo Conti - diatonic accordion, melodion, harmonium
Rinaldo Doro - diatonic accordion, bagpipe, hurdy-gurdy
Vincenzo Marchelli - vocals
Andrea Sibioli - violin, mandolin, vocals
Guests:
Guido Antoniotti - percussion
Carlo Aonzo - mandolin
Aldo Caparnelli - piano
Gianni Coscia - accordion
Pino Laruccia - clarinet
Claudio Rolandi - accordion
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01. Tre Monferrine Di Gegno: La Bèla Martina/Pàn E Pòm/Trìc E Tràc
02. E Cavour...
03. Monferrine Di Masserano: Monferrina/Monferrina
04. Er Car Di Traslòc
05. Danze Dal "Sinigaglia": Danza E Marcia/Monferrina N.5
06. Galantòne/Schottisch
07. Ën Val d'Andorn/Mazurca Per Nene
08. Jolicoeur
09. Polca Di Masserano/Polca Ernestina/Polca Di Masserano [Ripresa]
10. Maria Scëtta/Mazurca Di Castelceriolo
11. Scottish Della Trappa/Hale-Bopp Scottish
12. Ra Balada 'D Caterinein
13. Danze Piemontesi: La Ringhengò Marie Sofie/Potà 'D Farin-A/Perigoldino/
14. Polca Dël Fernèt/Polca Di Anita/Polca Dël Fernèt [Ripresa]
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Felmay fy 8023 2, 2000
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Car der steili part 1
Car der steili part 2
Car der steili part 3
Car der steili part 4