"VOCES"...es lo que veo ReggaeRaggaRumba

In my own world, voices are colors. In this album MACACO, AFRICA UNITE, TREMENDAMENTE, Gloria Bianco Vega y Elisabetta Rafaele, CANIJOS SIN FRONTERAS, Yunix y Zuli, have colored the songs from my trips around South America, Africa and Europe. We talk about immigration, protests, pollution, love and my own dreams.

WHO IS BLIND REVERENDO?

Blind Reverendo reveals the music of those who have overcome their difficulties. He emphasizes the synthesis of rhythm, lyrics and metrics. With his rhythm and melodies, he promotes his idea of a world full of difficulties and more exiting challenges.

His development as an artist was build up after his permanent contact with musicians from different backgrounds.

A party of commitment, the happiness and the social consciousness.

He studied Latin and African percussion, guitar and singing. He has achieved the hybrid between Reggae and Flamenco, Ragamuffin and Bossanova.

He also has an European Degree of Audio Engineering and Sound Recording.

Mario has been blind since he was 8 years old, and his loyal company while touring and in his daily life is Leo, his dog.

THE PROJECT

This new album was born naturally, simply because this is what I do. It’s called VOICES… in my world, voices are colors.

WHO IS PARTICIPATING WITH ME?

I want to paint my experiences, my dreams, and my own reflections, mixing different rhythms, languages, and my friends’ artistic vvv voices such as Dani Macaco, Dani Tremendamente, Gloria Bianco Vega, Elisabetta Rafaele, Alexis Bassiliou, Africa Unite, Bunna Vitale, Yunix, Zuli, and more tones that build up my project as a musician and as a person.

GOALS

One of my challenges is that my personal development interacts with my artistic career. And more than a goal it is a wish.

Thus, in this canvas, the musical matrix is reggae, but I also give some strokes of Ragamuffin, dub, rumba and other styles without style that turn my life into a trip, and this trip into a permanent learning process.

THE PRODUCTION

My second CD is already half way, but in order to enjoy it completely, we only need to record and mix the last two pieces, print it and distribute it by April 2012. To make it real, we need 5,000 euros.

THE COMMITMENT

This production is also part of a bigger and more committed project, which includes a Mediterranean tour speaking up for immigration issues. In addition, every time someone buys “Danzaré”, 40 ctvs will go to the public water campaign in Italy, launched by the international environmental organization ATACC.

MY DREAMS

I would love that one day soon, you wake up singing “Danzaré” or that during the next party all your friends dance “Horny”, and that “Sueños” gives you another perspective about immigration. But above all, I would like you to be part of this project.

ALBUM'S SONGS

Danzaré - I’ll dance - (feat Dani Macaco)

Dancing to stop pollution could even sound naïve, but for me, music is one way of starting change. Any social or political transformation passes through dance, paint, art and other forms that make us think. I want to lay stress on some issues like pollution, in a relaxed way.

Sueños – Dreams - (feat. Gloria Bianco Vega and Elisabeta Rafaelle)

It comes from a personal reflection about the concept of secrecy linked to immigration. And the idea emerged after a strong experience at the airport, when I realized how difficult life can be for immigrant people from the south facing secrecy and illegality in the north.

My Darling (feat Bunna, Africa Unite)

This song has been in my guitar for more than twelve years. But people stay with it. I want to evoke those relationships of love, misunderstanding, desire, and fantasies. Those “bolero “adventures, that move from hate to love. In this version I’m working with Buna, from Africa Unite, a musician with whom I share friendship, rhythms and “darling” nights.

Horny (feat Gloria Bianco, Elisabetta Rafaele)

The meaning of this song is complemented by its video. Ironically I want to criticize the sexist and elitist ideas that some hip pop videos give to the audience. It is against stereotypes. I wonder if sex is related to connections, communication and complicity between two, rather than marketing beauty.

El Pueblo del Enano – The Dwarf Town- (feat Zuli)

It talks about Berlusconi and how the mass media lobotomized the majority of Italians with illusions and lies. It is an ironical text about Italy and its mentality during the Berlusconi era.

Volando voy, volando vengo (spanish classic)

This is a reggae-rumba-raga version of a famous tune this time sung by Dani Termendamente, Canijos sin Fronteras Canijos without Borders and me. It talks about how flying can be a no-depression state of being. But I also play with the word “omertà”, a law silence within Sicilian mafia.

Viajar – Traveling- (feat Yunix)

When you feel like a square peg in a round hole, travelling cantrav be an option to escape and be yourself. In this song Yunix and me sing about the feeling of being different: he as a Moroccan immigrant in Italy and me as a blind person.

I Tuoi Gesti - your Gestures- (feat. Canijos sin Fronteras y Alexis Tremendamente)

Gaddafi used to be a close friend of Berlusconi not so long ago but then he was attacked in name of democracy. This is the latest case, but during the last two decades we have had many examples like this one. Pre-made wars by European Union, and The United States of America as if they were medieval crusades but now using the flag of democracy. A big flag that hides interests of the military and oil industries, and those of construction companies and pharmaceuticals.

Es difícil Not easy-

This song wasn’t created during insomnia, but the lyrics talk about those endless nights during which you can suffer from paranoia attacks -from the gut to the heart- that don’t come out shouting or crying. You just keep it inside, and it allows you to sleep in the deep darkness, awaiting for the first sounds of sunrise.

Fotografía photography

I want to sing a photo. A photo about my feelings, about what I hear in and out side of myself. Maybe this will be a photo of Africa, to include a profound and rooted sound… or maybe I will come up with an acoustic love ballad as a bleached and beautiful photography.