Ensemble Havadià 1981/1982 (2006)

This new edition of Ensemble Havadià's album, presents some tracks from Specchi/Mirrors/Miroirs/Spiegel, the "theatrical concert" which the group presented in 1982. The concert, conceived as a theatrical performance, saw the interaction of ten musicians and a dancer with a complex scenographic structure, a luminous pyramid, which contained the interpreters like a magic circle, guiding the performance with its changes of light.

"The re-edition on CD of the albums by Gruppo Folk Internazionale (GFI) and Ensemble Havadià, needs no other justification than the importance the figure of Moni Ovadia has attained since then, since he was the founder and main personality of both groups. Whoever is familiar with Ovadia the man of theatre, interpreter of Jewish tradition, humorist and ideologist, will easily perceive in these recordings the origins of the intensity and versatility which have played such a large part in determining his enormous success. For those who knew him before, it is clear that Moni has developed and perfected abilities and repertoires which belonged to him already in the '70s: these materials could almost all belong to his more recent shows.

But Ovadia wasn't the only member of the GFI or of Ensemble Havadià. These were groups, totally steeped in the collaborative concept which, before the Beatles, had already been imposed by the collectives which animated the anglo-american folk-revival scene, from Pete Seeger's Almanac Singers and Weavers to the London Critics Group of Ewan Mc Coll: the latter was one of the greatest influences which led to the birth of the GFI. Each member's contribution was of the utmost importance, not only for the two groups' productions but also for the work of the Cooperativa l'Orchestra, which they helped to create. It's impossible not to mention at least the exceptional voices of Mariuccia Colegni, Silvia Paggi, Roberta Zanuso, the instrumental and compositional contribution of Maurizio Dehò, Alfredo Lacosegliaz, Piero Milesi, Mario Arcari, all of whom were later involved in subsequent stages of Ovadia's career. Not only that: Mauro Pagani has recognized his debt towards the GFI for the "turning point" which led him to compose the music of Creuza de ma for De André; Arcari has worked extensively with Fossati

and De André, and Milesi was the latter's arranger and later producer of his last two albums: in the material of the GFI and of Ensemble Havadià we breathe the air of the best Italian song-writing of the past twenty years."
Franco Fabbri

Produced by Gruppo Folk Internazionale for Cooperativa L'Orchestra

Musicisti:

>> Silvia Paggi: voice, organetto, percussion

>> Mauro Minuci: double bass

>> Marzia Mestek: voice in "Finale"

>> Valemir Dugina: violin

>> Diego Ruvidotti: trumpet

>> Lorenzo Leddi: electric guitar, keyboards

>> Aldo Di Marco: vibraphone, drums

Tracks: