Voices of Belonging:Reimagining Italian Folk Traditions from Lazio and Puglia through Composition, Memory, and Social Reflection

Voices of Belonging:Reimagining Italian Folk Traditions from Lazio and Puglia through Composition, Memory, and Social Reflection

Abstract

Voices of Belonging examines selected vocal traditions from Lazio and Puglia between 1950 and 1970 and explores how they can inform contemporary jazz composition. The project began from my need, as an Italian musician living abroad, to reconnect with the voices, places, and cultural memory of my country. It addresses the growing distance between younger generations and oral traditions connected to labor, courtship, ritual, celebration, and community life. I argue that these traditions should be understood not as fixed repertoires but as living social practices. Contemporary jazz can engage with them responsibly by transforming oral processes, vocal gestures, collective interaction, and social meanings rather than simply borrowing melodies. My methodology combined literature, archival recordings, fieldwork, interviews, musical analysis, collaborative rehearsals, and studio recording. The interviews showed that tradition is learned through embodied listening, variation follows local rhythmic-melodic grammars, and transcription is interpretive. I translated these findings into four compositions: Itela Na Su Po, Cantarello, Lazio and Puglia, and Appartenenza. The project also proposes educational spaces where these traditions can be studied, questioned, performed, and renewed.

Publication Date

7-1-2026

Campus

Boston Campus

Keywords

Italian Folk Traditions - Voices - Lazio and Puglia - Italy

Voices of Belonging:Reimagining Italian Folk Traditions from Lazio and Puglia through Composition, Memory, and Social Reflection

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