Sissy Castrogiovanni
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Sissy Castrogiovanni

Boston, Massachusetts, United States | Established. Jan 01, 2014

Boston, Massachusetts, United States
Established on Jan, 2014
Band Jazz World

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Music

Press


"Review (Jazz Fusion): “Africannu” Sissy Castrogiovanni"

What I love about Sicilian jazz singer Sissy Castrogiovanni’s music is that it brings together different cultures seamlessly and with care. You can hear their distinct qualities yet they fit well together similar to a well-made tapestry or tasty fusion cuisine.

Having studied jazz improvisation, vocal technique and percussion in Italy and then gaining her degree in Jazz Composition at Berklee, not to mention having worked with Jack DeJohnette, Bobby McFerrin and Patrice Rushen, Ms. Castrogiovanni has acquired formidable skills which are evident in her compositions.

She has a similar approach in her album’s concept to that of Claudia Acuna’s, but aside from the fact that she is singing in a Sicilian dialect (which arguably has a similar enunciation and passion to Spanish) she has a different tone quality and employs a larger sound with the introduction of a choir of voices over her vamp section. Not to mention she is a soprano/alto whereas Claudia is on the lower end of the alto sound.

I really like the beginning of the song “Africannu” that has the sound of children playing near the beach and the sax solos over this backdrop. It reminded me of a recording that Dizzy Gillespie and James Moody made of the Antonio Carlos Jobim composition “Chega De Saudade.”

This piece is in 5/4 and has a loose feel to it that makes you feel real comfortable listening to a song in an “odd meter.” The piano and sax solos are thoughtful and fit well within the overall concept of the performance. Her solo reminded me a little of Dianne Reeves yet she has her own way of phrasing and playing with rhythm.

Her compositional skills are very apparent given that this piece is an original. The melodic and harmonic statements are quite complimentary and I especially like the contrapuntal bass and piano line that ends each bridge section. The arrangement is also well-planned and keeps the listener in a state of anticipation wanting to hear what is coming next. This song does not disappoint and is a great addition to a debut album. - Will Smith


"Sissy Castrogiovanni - Intra Lu Munnu CD"

Sicilia, the homeland both of the singer and the author of this album. This mystical place has a special meaning to us, Hungarians, because if we hear “Sicilia”, most of us think of the Mafia, gangsters and the unwritten laws what we have seen in the movies or read in the books, even if big percent of this are just fiction. However this island is a really pleasant, friendly place, a true mediterranean world with wonderful resources and gastronomy, which nowadays is not as closed as it was decades before. And the top of that compare to the other big Italian cities in the aspect of safety and security, it is the island of perfect calm. The first album of the beautiful Sissy Castrogiovanni is an experiment in order to mix the roots of the Sicilian melodies with a modern, jazz-based music and the result is the actualization of the world of traditions, the voices of the present ages and the Sicilian music. Consider to the album cover we would expected a light and easy album, which caption means: Inside the World. But this is not a disillusion, because it is a pleasant and exciting album and also a milestone of a promising career of a young singer with a beautiful voice. " - Radnai Rudolf (Hungarian Instrument Page Portal)


"Sissy Castrogiovanni - Intra lu munnu"

Alla base di Intra lu munnu è la stessa vicenda biografica e professionale di Sissy Castrogiovanni, cantante nata in Sicilia e residente a Boston. Nei vari brani si intrecciano le tradizioni popolari siciliane, a partire dai testi in dialetto per proseguire con i richiami alle melodie della musica dell'isola, con la canzone e il jazz incontrati negli Stati Uniti, le collaborazioni con un ambiente internazionale, come si rileva anche nella lista dei musicisti coinvolti nel disco.
La fusione tra gli elementi diventa la traccia su cui si sviluppa la ricerca di Sissy Castrogiovanni, sia dal punto di vista musicale che narrativo. Come nell'apertura di Sicultango dove un intervento "parlato" lascia emergere il sentimento da ""esule forzata" nella domanda che si pongono molti dei nuovi emigrati italiani, vale a dire, citando più o meno testualmente: "Ma se tutti noi che siamo andati fuori dall'Italia, tornassimo con le nostre esperienze a portare serietà in questo paese di Pulcinella, ce la possiamo fare o no?"
Ed è in questa direzione che si sviluppa la trama del lavoro. La ricerca di un contatto tra elementi musicali diversi mette in luce l'intenzione di superare il confine tra etichette di genere e di svicolare tra i riferimenti per proporre un approccio alla canzone capace di includere. A seconda dei casi - più o meno riusciti, più o meno fluidi - i brani proposti rivelano la necessità intima di Sissy Castrogiovanni di ampliare un vocabolario espressivo secondo il principio che, al giorno d'oggi, ogni nuovo ascolto abbia quantomeno diritto di essere preso in considerazione come un punto di partenza per una riflessione musicale. Intra lu munnu, sin dal titolo, offre questa prospettiva all'ascoltatore e, traccia dopo traccia, sono tanti i mondi che entrano nelle canzoni e che si confrtontano con la radice siciliana dei testi e dei melismi presenti nelle composizioni. - Adam D'amato ( Jazz Convention)


Discography

Still working on that hot first release.

Photos

Feeling a bit camera shy

Bio

Sissy Castrogiovanni mesmerized audience during the release celebration of her latest album, Intra Lu Munnu, at the world renowened venue RegattaBar in Boston.



She toured around Europe and USA, in festivals like MIDEM Cannes Music Festival, 4th Annual Middle Eastern Festival, Sounds of Italy Festival, Umbria Jazz, Women Network Festival, etc. Also she performed in such venues as RegattaBar Jazz Club, Jordan Hall (Boston), Cotton Club (NYC), European Parliament (Brussels) etc.


Powerful and warm voice, Sissy has a unique and soulful sound.

Mediterranean and Sicilian roots, jazz harmonies, African rhythms and a
touch of classical music, all combined together to support beautiful
original melodies in Sicilian dialect.



Pure fire on stage. Sissy's stunning energy comes as much from her home as it does her unique spirit. Born in Sicily (Italy) into a musical family, Sissy
is firmly planted between the Mediterranean Sea and Volcano Etna in an
island with a long history of foreign domination, from the Greeks to the
Romans, from the Arabs to the Spanish, from the African to the Normans.
The result is a mixed culture where every single domination left
something to see, to taste, to hear... And all of this shines trough
Sissy's latest record, Intra Lu Munnu. It means "Inside
the World". It's a collection of 10 original Sissy's compositions
entirely sung in Sicilian dialect, with musicians coming from every part
of the world and a special collaboration with the Pletenitsa Balkan
Choir.



Sissy's creativity starts flowing at the age of five. She
started early on to delve into a wide variety of musical styles, from
jazz to blues, to soul and funk, being at the same time exposed to
Sicilian traditional folk music. Grown as a self-taught musician,
in 2009 Sissy becomes Berklee College of Music scholarship recipient
and she specializes in Jazz Composition and Mediterranean Studies. In
2011 she's awarded as presidential scholarship and invited as performing
artist at the Mediterranean Music Institute (Valencia, Spain). While
living in Spain she lines out the first sketches of her compositions.



Among others, Sissy had the opportunity to collaborate with several world renowned artists such as jazz drummer Jack
DeJohnette (Keith Jarrett, Miles Davis, John Coltrane etc.) - 10 times
Grammy Award winning, Bobby McFerrin producer/composer Patrice Rushen
7 times Latin Grammy Award winning, Javier Limon.

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PRESS QUOTES:


Sissy
is the voice and the image of Sicily, her songs are starting a new era
for Sicilian popular music. Thanks to her, we can discover a new
universe within traditional Sicilian music, extremely rich and powerful
melodies and soundscapes, that transport us immediately to this islands
streets and fields full of life and art, something very different,
worthy of the utmost attention.


7 times Grammy Award winning Javier Limon, El Pais (Spain)



"Sissy
is definitely one of those people that when you hear her voice you feel
like are angels around you, singing to you. She is one of those
angels."


Grammy and Latin Grammy Award multi nomenee Gabo Lugo


"INTRA
LU MUNNU...a pleasant and exciting album and also a milestone of a
promising career of a young singer with a beautiful voice."

Radnai Rudolf Hungarian Instrument Page Portal





"Sissy
has something that is very unique [...] - She has the gift to make you
feel emotions that perhaps you never thought you could feel."


Victor Mendoza, Director Contemporary Studio Performance, Berklee Valencia




Band Members