"It was a day in a time in 1996 when I heard a voice, a musical stroke, a tone of luminosity and style that immediately touched me. Antonello Salis !

Later on he came to play at the"Jazz in Calvi" festival and all the merry troupe stayed on my invitation at our Casa Musicale in Pigna. It was my first meeting with Salis. Many years later, in 2014 exactly, we were on stage together to create the show "7 modi", directed by Stefano Cocco Cantini. His relationship to sound, musical effervescence, instant imaginative creation and complicity fascinated me.

Antonio told me "facciamo qualcosa insieme noi due". I took it at the word and the idea of a duet between this great and singular pianist accordionist improviser and my musical landscape enchanted me. We decided then to create a repertoire between creative improvisations, some pieces of my composition and the reinterpretation of traditional Corsican songs.

The paths of an unknown music that then becomes common and isochronic, as if our memories and our sources were part of the same story and the same time! The single body of a child on the edge of an island, barefoot on the ground, watching the sea dreaming of the journey".

Jérôme Casalonga

Great Sardinian accordionist and pianist Antonello Salis and singer, instrumentalist and composer Jérôme Casalonga have decided to do a duet in which they will mix their musical landscapes, between creative improvisations, tracks composed by Jérôme Casalonga and new interpretations of traditional Corsican songs.

A creative meeting of two vibrant musicians, walking together into the unknown towards a joint and isochronous music.

Based in Pigna, a little Corsican village and cultural hub in the Northwest of the wild and mysterious “Island of Beauty”, Jérome Casalonga is a composer, singer and instrumentalist. Founder of the Casa Musicale (www.casa-musicale.org), a legendary cradle of creation and artistic exchange, and eclectic music label Casa Editions (www.casa-editions.com), Jérôme performs with his ensembles (Zamballarana, A Cumpagnia, Duo Comparte, Baïna Project) and various musicians and bands such as André Jaume, Jean-Christophe Spinozi, Taraf de Haïdouks, Jacky Micaelli, Amina Alaoui. He composed and wrote for his bands more than 150 songs and recorded around thirty albums.

Self-taught musician Antonello Salis has played accordion since the age of seven and later also learned how to play the piano. Member of the Nuovo Quartetto, the PAF trio and the Art Ensemble of Chicago, nominated Djangodor in 2005, Salis has made music with almost all the star jazz players: Paolo Fresu, Marcel Azzola, Richard Galliano, Gianluca Petrel, Joey Baron, Don Cherry, Pat Metheny, Cecil Taylor... and composed the music for Conte d'automne (1998) and Play Your Own Thing: A Story of Jazz in Europe (2006).

The collaboration of Sardinian accordionist and pianist Antonello Salis and Corsican singer and instrumentalist Jérôme Casalonga promotes the meeting of two heritages: jazz and traditional music.

The result of the residency will see the production of a 14 track album recorded and mixed at Pigna auditorium and studio (Corsica) that will be launched in June 2018 and followed by a tour in major national and international festivals and showcases from summer 2018.

To keep up with the artists:

https://www.facebook.com/Antonello-Salis-455288424547092/

https://www.facebook.com/people/Jérôme-Casalonga/100010646265317

Videos on line:

Antonello Salis and Jérôme Casalonga are going to record their first duo album together. In the meantime, get a sneak peek at a few videos of them on stage.

Antonello Salis - noi, servitori della musica:

Stefano Bollani & Antonello Salis duo Ravenna Jazz:

Jérôme Casalonga with A Cumpagnia band:

Jérôme Casalonga with Zamballarana band:

Isokhronos