Tarabuk by Marco Lo Russo and Tiziano Zanotti
Review by Renato Belardinelli

This CD has an enormous value. It leaves the hope that mankind has not completely lost its power of communication, that we remember to listen before talking, that we still know how to converse and the hope that there still lives inside us, a sense of history, of narrative, of legend. Marco Lo Russo and Tiziano Zanotti express the joy of communication without losing its mystery.

Whatever one wishes to say, this is made to measure music for mankind. The melodies are so full of breath and warmth, they seem to reach us from faraway, supporting by a life-like pulse.

The accordion dances upon the agile rhythm of the bass but often it is the latter, that whilst enveloped in the sonoric cloud of the accordion, lets itself be heard both in pizzicato and with a knowledgeable use of the bow. Sometimes these two instruments that usually combine in a very warm expressive way, give way to a rhythm and seems almost suspended in time, thus perfectly in accord with the title of the album.

The Tarabuk is in fact a drum used by the ancient Egyptian peoples for ritualistic purposes. If we add to this use, the function of regenerating tradition and the handing down by word of mouth through the generations, then we can see that Lo Russo and Zanotti have known how to celebrate with their work, the beauty and continuity of life.

It is practically impossible to categorise the style of the ten pieces that make up the CD. Other than this difficulty, any classification would only have diminished the wide cultural scope of this project which, like a huge open door on the Mediterranean, is capable of assembling many diverse influences without ever losing its original style.

1991 "Paz" - Ivan Valentini Splasc(H)
1999 "Minimized" - Tiziano Zanotti, Fausto Redorici, Marco Barbieri (CFM)
1999 "Canzoni e standard" - Emilia Vancini (Produzione indipendente)
2004 "Saluta i Gatti e Buonasera..." - Franz Campi (Poli Positivi)
2005 "Tarabuk" - Tiziano Zanotti, Marco Lo Russo (Velut Luna)
2007 "Influences" - Tiziano Zanotti, Alessio Alberghini (Echoes)

Bassist, double bassist and composer, after completing his classical studies he attended many jazz and rock music master classes, becoming also a skilled guitar, piano and cello player.

He has studied with: Marc Johnson, Furio di Castri, Palle Danielsson, Bruno Tommaso, Pat Martino, Ubaldo Fioravanti, Trilok Gurtu, Gianluigi Trovesi, Peter Erskine, John Taylor, Giancarlo Gazzani.

He has participated in a number of recording productions as a performer, arranger and artistic producer, playing with Claudio Lolli, Orchestra Oracoeli of Nicola Piovani, Andrea Bocelli, Franz Campi, Josef Alessi, Andrea Giuffredi, Parto delle Nuvole Pesanti, and in several orchestras and jazz and rock bands.

As a leader he produced the CDs "Minimized" (CFM 1998), "Tarabuk" (Velut Luna 2006) and "Influences" (Echoes 2007), which were acclaimed by both the public and the specialized press.

He is also a well-known music educator. He has taught at the courses delivered by Teatro alla Scala of Milan, Fondazione Arturo Toscanini of Parma and Idea of Bologna.

In 1996 he founded the "Centro di Formazione Musicale" in Bologna, where he was director and teacher of bass and double bass, publishing a number of manuals and multimedia CDs translated into English and French.

The latest among his didactic manuals, "Bassista contemporaneo" (Echoes 2006), is a very successful book.