On July 18 Zucchero will join many other major recording artists, among them Stevie Wonder, Aretha Franklin, Dave Stewart and Alicia Keys, for a celebration of Nelson Mandela’s 91st birthday in Radio City Music Hall in New York. The concert is part of the 46664 campaign to raise awareness and money for the fight against HIV/AIDS in Africa. Zucchero has been an active supporter of 46664 since the first concert in 2003, appearing at shows in South Africa, Spain, Norway, and most recently last years concert in Hyde Park, London. For tickets and more information about the show and how you can support the 46664 campaign visit the website above.
Yesterday marked the anniversary of one of Zucchero’s classic albums: in 1989 Oro Incenso E Birra became a smash hit, first in Italy, but soon also in the rest of Europe. Whether one considers Oro Zucchero’s best album or not, it’s practically impossible not to have it in the top 3: with the exception of one, perhaps two, songs, Oro Incenso E Birra’s entire tracklist consists of songs that generally make up Zucchero’s best of albums: Diamante, Diavolo In Me, Overdose D’Amore, Wonderful World, Madre Dolcissima, Il Mare and Iruben Me, all were original songs on this album, and all are amongst the most well known, and best, Zucchero songs.
The greatness of Oro’s success lies in the fact that it was both a major commercial (with several million copies sold in Italy alone) but also an artistic triumph. Recorded in Memphis, New York and Italy, produced by Corrado Rustici, and featuring Zucchero’s band from the Blue’s tour, as well as an exceptional guestlist (Eric Clapton, Ennio Morricone, David Sanscious, Clarence Clemmons, Jimmy Smith, Rufus Thomas), Oro was the next (and better) step in the experiment of combining Italian melodies with American soul and rhythm and blues, which Zucchero had started with the Rispetto and Blue’s albums.
The result, a tight band sound on up-tempo songs like Overdose D’Amore and Il Mare, combined with Zucchero’s trademark ironic (and, in the case of Il Mare borderline pornographic) lyrics, as well as the lucious sound behind the beautiful Diamante (with lyrics written by Francesco de Gregori and music by Matteo Saggese, Mino Vergnaghi and Zucchero), was a pleasant surprise to older fans, but even more so to the many new fans that came to Zucchero’s music through it. Despite its two decades of existence, Oro Incenso E Birra remains very much alive: during last year’s All The Best tour, the regular setlist included five Oro songs, with two others frown in from time to time.
In response to the major earthquake that hit central Italy on April 21, a song has been recorded to raise money in support of the people of Abrezzo. The song, “Domani 21-04-09,” features a large cast of Italian singers, including: Jovanotti, Laura Pausini, Gianna Nannini, Gianni Morandi, Nek, Antonello Vendetti, Tiziano Ferro, and Zucchero. The song will be released in the coming days, as well as a supporting video. All publishing and recording rights deriving from the sale of the track will be donated to the “Salviamo l’arte in Abruzzo.”
Last Saturday, Zucchero was a guest on RAI 3’s Che Tempo Che Fa for an interview, and six (!) performances in promotion of Live in Italy. Zucchero sang (live, music was backing tape) Con Le Mani, Solo Una Sana, Diavolo In Me, Sympathy, Diamante and X Colpa Di Chi? and discussed his feature plans. The full 45 minutes of Zucchero pressence can be seen here
Finally, this Saturday, Zucchero will be in Switzerland to perform during the Mr. Switzerland competition. The show will be broadcast live on Swiss TV.
Last week Irene Fornaciari was one of the competitors in the Sanremo festival, and she was backed by the members of Adelmo e i Sorapis: Zucchero, Dodi Battagli, Maurizio Vandelli and Fio Zanotti (as well as Zucchero’s drummer Adriano Molinari). Irene sang Spiove il Sole, and the different band members performed a medley of hits.
Last year Zucchero was one of the artists participating in a tribute concert to celebrate the life of Luciano Pavarotti and raise money for UNHCR in Petra, Jordany. Now, a dvd of this concert, which also included performers such as Andrea Bocelli, Sting, Laura Pausini, Jovanotti, Placido Domingo and Jose Carreras, is available. Zucchero performs two songs (Va, Pensiero and Nel Cosi Blu) and delivers a speech about Pavarotti.
At the end of this month, the annual San Remo Festival will take place once again, and for the first time since 2001 (when Zucchero (co-)wrote both the winning and running up songs performed by Elisa and Giorgia) Zucchero will be an active participant, this time backing his daughter Irene, with the fellow members of his band Adelmo E I Sorapis, on the song “Spiove Il Sole”, which will be contending in the Proposet category (as far as we can tell intended for younger artists).
Live on Italy is now available throughout Europe. The 2cd/2dvd package can be bought online from nearly every version of Amazon. The official Zucchero store has two versions of the package available, the normal one, and a book version with many pictures made during the concerts. For more info see this website.
The 2007/2008 tour, meanwhile, is about to end, with the final leg ending in Italy this week. Last week in Rome Zucchero was joined on stage by Jeff Beck, the first time the two have performed live together (though not the first time they have worked together: Beck recorded the guitar solo’s on the studio versions of “Papa Perche” and the ZU & Co version of “Come il Sole All’Improvviso”). Meanwhile, the December 9 concert in Bolzano had the following setlist:
- Iruben Me
- Una Carezza
- Occhi
- Tutti I Colori Della Mia Vita
- Bacco Perbacco
- Amen
- Cuba Libre
- Il Volo
- Blu
- Diamante
- Così Celeste
- Baila
- Overdose d’amore
- Il Mare…
- Indaco…
- Nel Così Blu
- Miss Mary
- L’urlo
- Con le Mani
- Pippo
- Solo una sana…
- Diavolo in Me
- Hi-De-Ho
- Menta e Rosmarino
- Miserere
- Per Colpa di Chi?
(thanks to Arcord on the Un po’ di Zucchero forum).
Zucchero this week played his first ever concerts in Australia, and yesterday’s show in Sydney featured a special guest: Tina Arena joined Zucchero on stage, and a wonderful version of “Blue,” as well as some pretty cool dance moves by both singers, followed.
Zucchero and Tina Arena worked together on “Ahum” for 2004’s ZU & Co, and shared the stage during the Royal Albert Hall performance.
EIL.com and Bol.com have both released the tracklist for Live in Italy this week. The 2cd / 2dvd set will include a whopping 39 different songs, including three songs recorded during the rehearsals for the All the Best tour earlier this years (the new single Una Carezza, the cover Sympathy, and a new song called Oro e Blues). The collection is particularly heavy on material recorded during the 2007 Verona concerts (26 songs on the dvd), but also includes some of the songs that were only played during the All the Best tour (such as Tutti i colori della mia vita, Amen, Wonderful Life, Pippo, Menta e Rosmarino, Hey Man and the cover song Hi-De-Ho).
CD 1
1. Dune Mosse
2. Occhi
3. Quanti Anni Ho
4. Bacco Perbacco
5. Un Kilo
6. Cuba Libre
7. L’Amore E’ Nell’Aria
8. Il Volo
9. Diamante
10. Cosi’ Celeste
11. Baila (Sexy Thing)
12. Overdose D’Amore
13. Il Mare Impetuoso…
14. It’S Allright
15. Indaco Dagli Occhi Del Cielo
16. Nel Cosi’ Blu
17. E’ Delicato
CD 2
1. L’Urlo
2. Con Le Mani
3. Solo Una Sana Consapevole Libidine…
4. Diavolo In Me
5. You Are So Beautiful
6. Tutti I Colori Della Mia Vita
7. Rispetto
8. Pippo
9. Wonderful Life
10. Hey Man
11. Menta E Rosmarino
12. Hi De Ho
13. Miserere
14. Per Colpa Di Chi?
15. Sympathy
16. Una Carezza
17. Oro E Blues
Dvd 1
1. Dune Mosse
2. Occhi
3. Quanti Anni Ho
4. Bacco Perbacco
5. Pronto
6. Un Kilo
7. Cuba Libre
8. L’Amore E’ Nell’Aria
9. Il Volo
10. Diamante
11. Cosi’ Celeste
12. Baila (Sexy Thing)
13. Overdose D’Amore
14. Il Mare Impetuoso…
15. It’S Allright
16. Indaco Dagli Occhi Del Cielo
17. Nel Cosi’ Blu
18. E’ Delicato
19. Wonderful World
20. L’Urlo
21. Con Le Mani
22. Solo Una Sana Consapevole Libidine
23. Diavolo In Me
24. Senza Una Donna
25. Madre Dolcissima
26. You Are So Beautiful
Dvd 2
1. Tutti I Colori Della Mia Vita
2. Amen
3. Rispetto
4. Pippo
5. Wonderful Life
6. Hey Man
7. Menta E Rosmarino
8. Hi De Ho
9. Miserere
10. Per Colpa Di Chi?
Eil.com has published the tracklist for Live in Italy, which will be released two weeks from now. The cd is mostly based on recordings made during the 2007 Verona shows, but also includes some cuts from the 2008 San Siro concert, as well as three brand new studio tracks:
CD1:
1. Dune Mosse
2. Occhi
3. Quanti Anni Ho
4. Bacco Perbacco
5. Un Kilo
6. Cuba Libre
7. L’amore E’ Nell’aria
8. Il Volo
9. Diamante
10. Cosi’ Celeste
11. Baila (Sexy Thing)
12. Overdose D’amore
13. Il Mare Impetuoso…
14. It’s Allright
15. Indaco Dagli Occhi Del Cielo
16. Nel Cosi’ Blu
17. E’ Delicat
CD2:
1. L’urlo
2. Con Le Mani
3. Solo Una Sana Consapevole Libidine…
4. Diavolo In Me
5. You Are So Beautiful
6. Hey Man
7. Menta E Rosmarino
8. Rispetto
9. Pippo
10. Hi De Ho
11. Wonderful Life
12. Tutti I Colori Della Mia Vita
13. Miserere
14. Per Colpa Di Chi?
15. Sympathy
16. Una Carezza
17. Oro E Blues
The package will also include a 2dvd set, but the specific tracklist for that is not yet available.
