Maria Mazzotta: Onde
Joe's Pub425 Lafayette Street, New York 10003
Maria Mazzotta brings Onde to Joe’s Pub with the trio behind the project: Mazzotta on voice, tambourine and percussion, Cristiano Della Monica on drums, percussion and electronics, and Ernesto Nobili on electric and baritone guitar. The set draws on a sound in which Salento musical tradition meets electric post-rock textures, placing her voice against guitar, dry percussion and electronics.
From Apulia in southern Italy, with roots in the Salento peninsula, Mazzotta is known for her work with the internationally renowned Canzoniere Grecanico Salentino and for exploring southern Italian and Mediterranean traditions. Her collaborators on Onde come from Lecce and Naples; the album also includes guests Bombino and Volker Goetze. Her agency lists work with Bobby McFerrin, Ibrahim Maalouf, Ballaké Sissoko, Piers Faccini, Justin Adams, and Juldeh Camara. Télérama hears popular song with post-rock accents in music carried by a “visceral voice” of “fabulous expressiveness,” while RFI points to the “impressive magnetism” of guitar, dry percussion and vocal power. Il Giornale della Musica calls the meeting of tradition and rock a blend achieved “with intelligence.”
The stage is set in a converted library space with a striped bar and photos of legends like Leonard Cohen and Amy Winehouse lining the walls. You'll find yourself seated on velvet couches or at candle-lit tables, close enough to hear every note from the back. The sound, engineered by technicians who've worked with John Legend and The Notorious B.I.G., is consistently ranked among the best in New York. Three shows a day, dinner and drinks served throughout, and a menu ranging from Italian small plates to craft cocktails; it's a place where music and conversation flow together, and where both rising stars and legends have made their U.S. debuts.