Musical explosion from Puglia!

A short note about the three videos I just posted (see below for same date).

Some women go to the shoe store and go a little crazy.

Me? Well, every now and again I go to YouTube, and go a little crazy. That's because at times it's able to illustrate what I've seen in Italy, and then allow me to share it with you on this very blog.

When I returned from a vacation in Puglia in September of 2007, my mind was filled with entirely new images. I don't think that happens every day.

Afterall, I had already spent a lot of time in Italy. I had seen its countryside, its quaint towns, its majestic coastline.

But Puglia, well Puglia is something else entirely.

What captured my euphoria the best was a CD I bought in Lecce called "Glocalizm Vol I: Samples, Traditionals & Folk!!" (yes, the album title includes two exclamation points; see photo above).

It's traditional folk music from Puglia but remixed by Italian DJ Stefano Miele. That combination makes it hard to find in the States, and when I first returned from Puglia, I had trouble finding much on the Web about it.

Until now that is!

How often can we say we're hearing something we have NEVER heard before? How often can we say we've heard something out of this world?

Yeah, that's what I'm saying.

One of the thrilling discoveries is the Arabic underpinning of the music.

It's part and parcel of a region that offers the same things as many other areas of Italy -- countless groves of olive trees; picturesque beachfront towns; simple but powerful food -- yet serves them all up in brilliant Technicolor and with a nod to a unique cultural history that's included for better or for worse long periods of domination by foreign invaders (i.e. the Moors).

Enjoy these videos! They bring us a little piece of Puglia right here on Ciambellina.