Jovanotti — che è uno dei miei cantautori italiani preferiti — è stato recentemente a San Francisco ed ho avuto la buonissima fortuna di essere tra le migliaia di persone che c’erano al concerto. (Jovanotti, one of my favorite Italian singer-songwriters, was recently in San Francisco and I had the very good fortune to be among the thousands of people at the concert.)
Era una bellissima domenica, con i fan di Jovanotti faccendo dei picnic sotto agli alberi e ballando (una tribu’ che balla) a cielo aperto nello spettacolare parco di Stern Grove. (It was a beautiful Sunday, with Jovanotti fans picnicking under the trees and dancing under the open sky.)
~Jovanotti at Stern Grove in San Francisco~.
Di sicuro quello che per me ha reso il concerto ancora più speciale e memorabile era la possibilita’ di conoscere di piu’ Jovanotti sia come artista che persona durante un’intervista tenuta prima del concerto in un ambiente intimo con solamente una centina di persone presente.
Dopo sono riuscita anche a parlargli di persona ed anche a fare una fotografia insieme a lui. Ho potuto communicare a Jovanotti non solo quanto mi piace la sua musica ma anche il fatto che la utilizzo nelle mie classi d’italiano.
(Surely what for me made the concert even more special and memorable was the possibility to get to know Jovanotti more, as an artist and a person, during an interview held before the concert in an intimate setting with only about a hundred people present.
After this I also managed to talk to him in person and to have my picture taken with him. I was able to communicate to Jovanotti not only how much I like his music but also the fact that I use it in my Italian classes.)
.
~Jodina, Jovanotti, Maria(una mia amica di cuore)~
Jovanotti aka Lorenzo Cherubini categorizes himself as an Italian funk rap artist. But before you get turned off by the term rap, know that outside of the U.S. most rap is NOT preoccupied with a gangster lifestyle and peppered with obscenities. Rather it usually tends toward melodic, upbeat, and danceable. His music can also be categorized as ‘world beat’ – foreign language music with a groove.
Jovanotti, who has been performing now for over two decades, started as a pop rapper and DJ and has matured over the years from more simple dance themes to an artist whose clever and well-turned lyrics have deeper meaning and a universal human appeal. He delivers his lyrics in a half-sung, half-spoken style reminiscent of a downtown beat poet with catchy, melodic beats accessible to an international audience.
.
This is not Jovanotti’s first visit to the US – he spent the summer of 2009 in the village in New York City and had a string of sold-out tours on the East Coast. The summer 2010 concerts mark his first performances on the West Coast. The artist has spent more than a decade collaborating with internationally acclaimed musicians from around the globe, including Bono, Michael Franti, Sergio Mendes, Ben Harper, and The Beastie Boys.
Video/Song: “Una tribù che balla” (“A Tribe That Dances)
Gist of song: We are all one tribe regardless of differences.
Each is unique but all can dance together to the music.
Jovanotti lives in Cortona with his wife and daughter Teresa, to whom the song Per Te is dedicated. Cortona is the same town where Frances Mayes, author of Under the Tuscan Sun lives – her house is in fact just around the corner, and the two are good neighbors.
È veramente un mondo piccolo. (It is truly a small world.) And speaking of neighbors and small worlds, another perk to this wonderful day was meeting up with fellow Italian blogger and Facebook friend in person, Melissa Muldoon. Check out her delightful blog at Diario di una Studentessa Matta.
~Jodina & Melissa aka ‘una studentessa matta’~
And then, when I thought it couldn’t get any better, by chance, I ran right into dear old friends Bunny and Wolfgang from my days back in the Bay Area. Turns out they’d been a stone’s throw the entire concert and were only in town briefly visiting from Germany (!), where they now live – what are the odds? Truly, I think, we are all part of una tribù che balla, e la è bella.
~Bunny, Wolfgang, Jodina~
For more pictures of the concert, visit my Italiano With Jodina Facebook Page.
Looks like fun!!!