HyperJazz’s sophomore release moves its focus to South Italy: interpretation and insight aligned to the label’s own roots. TRNT is the first attempt at reworking the Tarantella tradition by Go Dugong. Tarantella is a popular, magical dance and music from South Italy, that in ancient times was related to the ritual of exorcising hysterical people, mostly women, who were allegedly bitten by Tarantula spiders, scorpions, snakes. Delirious people, named ‘tarantolati’ after the poisonous spider, underwent therapeutic rites and dances, that drew them into a trance, healing status. Tarantism related hysteria was actually due to the socio-cultural oppression of women in South Italy, where this diagnosis and its cure originated within a machismo dominated society. The bite of the Tarantula was indeed a scapegoat, used to justify what people did not want to understand at the time. TRNT is a collection of tunes inspired by his home town, Taranto. The tracks are Salinella, Tamburi, ILVA, Lama, named after some of the places, be they villages or neighborhoods, that were part of his youth down there. The contexts are made of wildly beautiful seascapes, social architecture, but also high pollution caused by the exploitive steel industry close by. Beauty mixed with bad health. This long trip started years ago, today has brought him back to his homeland, to re-elaborate and synthesize memories, images and tales from his fellow countrymen and women.

Brand new, never played, sealed