Mau Mau (band)
Encyclopedia
Mau Mau is an Italian band from Turin
. It was formed in 1991 as a continuation of the underground cult group I Loschi Dezi.
and Latin
traditions, was formed in 1991 by Luca Morino and Fabio Barovero, from the Piedmont
region of Italy
, and Bienvenu Tatè Nsongan, from Cameroon
. The band's name has a double meaning: it references the Kenya
n Mau Mau uprising
against British
colonial
rule, and, in the Piedmontese language
, Mau Mau designates "people who come from afar".
The band released their first EP
, Soma la macia (We are the scrub) in 1992. Sung in Piedmontese
, the EP attracted the attention of Peter Gabriel
, who invited them to record their first full album at his Real World Studios
. The result was Sauta Rabel (Let's Jump, Let's Make Such a Row). It was followed by a tour of festivals, including appearances at the Palestine International Dance & Music Festival and the International Festival of Babylon
in Iraq
.
In 1994, Mau Mau returned to Real World Studios to record their second album, titled Bàss paradis (Low Paradise). They dedicated it to all people who suffered under colonialism
. The album was released in quite a few European countries, as well as in Japan
, and was followed by a tour numbering over 100 performances.
Their third album, Viva Mamanera, was released in 1996. It was recorded with Eric Sarafin in Los Angeles
, Paris
(including in the Paris Metro
) and Turin. Viva Mamanera includes more electronic sounds than earlier releases, and was successful in Italy and in France
.
In the summer of 1996 the band played to over seventy thousand people when they opened for Paolo Conte
at the Paleo Festival in Nyon
.
Subsequently, the principle band members travelled to Morocco
to study Arabian culture and to work with artists of different backgrounds. The result of this experience was Eldorado, the band's 1998 album. It includes a collaboration with the "Meninos do Pelo" (the street urchins of Salvador de Bahia). The promotional tour began at the "Feira das Mentiras", Manu Chao
's festival in Santiago de Compostela
, (Galicia). After the tour, the band organized the "PiemontAfrique Festival" in Turin to promote the Africa
ns culture.
In 2000, EMI released Safari Beach, the fifth album of the band, a collaboration with Sargento Garcia. The album was less successful than earlier releases. Marasma General, Mau Mau's first live album, is released in 2001. It includes a collaboration with Inti Illimani on the song Eldorado. The band went on hiatus after the release of the live album.
During the break, Luca Morino wrote for the newspaper La Stampa
and released a solo album called Mistic Turistic/Moleskine Ballads. Fabio Barovero founded the folk band Banda Ionica
and wrote soundtracks for movies, including Davide Ferrario's Dopo Mezzanotte (After Midnight) and Alessandro d'Alatri's La Febbre.
Mau Mau returned in 2006 with the album Dea, which combined Brazilian and Piedmontese traditions and includes a collaboration with Sud Sound System
. The tour in the same year included performances at the inauguration day for "Turin Rome—World Book Capital
", organized by Subsonica
. At this show the band plays a version of its song Campeador de Vigna that weaves together the thread of the Miguel Cervantes's Don Quixote. The band also organized the inauguration day of "Terra Madre" in Turin.
Turin
Turin is a city and major business and cultural centre in northern Italy, capital of the Piedmont region, located mainly on the left bank of the Po River and surrounded by the Alpine arch. The population of the city proper is 909,193 while the population of the urban area is estimated by Eurostat...
. It was formed in 1991 as a continuation of the underground cult group I Loschi Dezi.
Biography
The band, which mixes AfricanMusic of Africa
Africa is a vast continent and its regions and nations have distinct musical traditions. The music of North Africa for the most part has a different history from sub-Saharan African music traditions....
and Latin
Latin American music
Latin American music, found within Central and South America, is a series of musical styles and genres that mixes influences from Spanish, African and indigenous sources, that has recently become very famous in the US.-Argentina:...
traditions, was formed in 1991 by Luca Morino and Fabio Barovero, from the Piedmont
Piedmont
Piedmont is one of the 20 regions of Italy. It has an area of 25,402 square kilometres and a population of about 4.4 million. The capital of Piedmont is Turin. The main local language is Piedmontese. Occitan is also spoken by a minority in the Occitan Valleys situated in the Provinces of...
region of Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, and Bienvenu Tatè Nsongan, from Cameroon
Cameroon
Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon , is a country in west Central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west; Chad to the northeast; the Central African Republic to the east; and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the Republic of the Congo to the south. Cameroon's coastline lies on the...
. The band's name has a double meaning: it references the Kenya
Kenya
Kenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...
n Mau Mau uprising
Mau Mau Uprising
The Mau Mau Uprising was a military conflict that took place in Kenya between 1952 and 1960...
against British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
colonial
Colonialism
Colonialism is the establishment, maintenance, acquisition and expansion of colonies in one territory by people from another territory. It is a process whereby the metropole claims sovereignty over the colony and the social structure, government, and economics of the colony are changed by...
rule, and, in the Piedmontese language
Piedmontese language
Piedmontese is a Romance language spoken by over 2 million people in Piedmont, northwest Italy. It is geographically and linguistically included in the Northern Italian group . It is part of the wider western group of Romance languages, including French, Occitan, and Catalan.Many European and...
, Mau Mau designates "people who come from afar".
The band released their first EP
Extended play
An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...
, Soma la macia (We are the scrub) in 1992. Sung in Piedmontese
Piedmontese language
Piedmontese is a Romance language spoken by over 2 million people in Piedmont, northwest Italy. It is geographically and linguistically included in the Northern Italian group . It is part of the wider western group of Romance languages, including French, Occitan, and Catalan.Many European and...
, the EP attracted the attention of Peter Gabriel
Peter Gabriel
Peter Brian Gabriel is an English singer, musician, and songwriter who rose to fame as the lead vocalist and flautist of the progressive rock group Genesis. After leaving Genesis, Gabriel went on to a successful solo career...
, who invited them to record their first full album at his Real World Studios
Real World Studios
Real World Studios is a residential recording studio in Box, Wiltshire, England associated with the Real World Records Ltd. record label founded by rock musician Peter Gabriel...
. The result was Sauta Rabel (Let's Jump, Let's Make Such a Row). It was followed by a tour of festivals, including appearances at the Palestine International Dance & Music Festival and the International Festival of Babylon
Babylon
Babylon was an Akkadian city-state of ancient Mesopotamia, the remains of which are found in present-day Al Hillah, Babil Province, Iraq, about 85 kilometers south of Baghdad...
in Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
.
In 1994, Mau Mau returned to Real World Studios to record their second album, titled Bàss paradis (Low Paradise). They dedicated it to all people who suffered under colonialism
Colonialism
Colonialism is the establishment, maintenance, acquisition and expansion of colonies in one territory by people from another territory. It is a process whereby the metropole claims sovereignty over the colony and the social structure, government, and economics of the colony are changed by...
. The album was released in quite a few European countries, as well as in Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, and was followed by a tour numbering over 100 performances.
Their third album, Viva Mamanera, was released in 1996. It was recorded with Eric Sarafin in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
(including in the Paris Metro
Paris Métro
The Paris Métro or Métropolitain is the rapid transit metro system in Paris, France. It has become a symbol of the city, noted for its density within the city limits and its uniform architecture influenced by Art Nouveau. The network's sixteen lines are mostly underground and run to 214 km ...
) and Turin. Viva Mamanera includes more electronic sounds than earlier releases, and was successful in Italy and in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
.
In the summer of 1996 the band played to over seventy thousand people when they opened for Paolo Conte
Paolo Conte
Paolo Conte is an Italian singer, pianist, composer, and lawyer notable for his grainy, resonant voice, his colourful and dreamy compositions and his wistful, sometimes melancholic...
at the Paleo Festival in Nyon
Nyon
Nyon is a municipality in the district of Nyon in the canton of Vaud in Switzerland. It is located some 25 kilometers north east of Geneva's city centre, and since the 1970s it has become part of the Geneva metropolitan area. It lies on the shores of Lake Geneva, and is the seat of the district of...
.
Subsequently, the principle band members travelled to Morocco
Morocco
Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...
to study Arabian culture and to work with artists of different backgrounds. The result of this experience was Eldorado, the band's 1998 album. It includes a collaboration with the "Meninos do Pelo" (the street urchins of Salvador de Bahia). The promotional tour began at the "Feira das Mentiras", Manu Chao
Manu Chao
Manu Chao , is a French singer of Spanish roots . He sings in French, Spanish, English, Italian, Galician, Arabic and Portuguese and occasionally in other languages...
's festival in Santiago de Compostela
Santiago de Compostela
Santiago de Compostela is the capital of the autonomous community of Galicia, Spain.The city's Cathedral is the destination today, as it has been throughout history, of the important 9th century medieval pilgrimage route, the Way of St. James...
, (Galicia). After the tour, the band organized the "PiemontAfrique Festival" in Turin to promote the Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
ns culture.
In 2000, EMI released Safari Beach, the fifth album of the band, a collaboration with Sargento Garcia. The album was less successful than earlier releases. Marasma General, Mau Mau's first live album, is released in 2001. It includes a collaboration with Inti Illimani on the song Eldorado. The band went on hiatus after the release of the live album.
During the break, Luca Morino wrote for the newspaper La Stampa
La Stampa
La Stampa is one of the best-known, most influential and most widely sold Italian daily newspapers. Published in Turin, it is distributed in Italy and other European nations. The current owner is the Fiat Group.-History:...
and released a solo album called Mistic Turistic/Moleskine Ballads. Fabio Barovero founded the folk band Banda Ionica
Banda Ionica
Banda Ionica is an Italian folk group focused on the brass band traditions of Sicily. The roots of the music played by the band can be traced to Holy Week and funeral marches...
and wrote soundtracks for movies, including Davide Ferrario's Dopo Mezzanotte (After Midnight) and Alessandro d'Alatri's La Febbre.
Mau Mau returned in 2006 with the album Dea, which combined Brazilian and Piedmontese traditions and includes a collaboration with Sud Sound System
Sud Sound System
Sud Sound System is a dancehall reggae sound system from Salento, Apulia, Italy. The group combines Jamaican rhythms and local culture, like Salentin dialect in their lyrics and dance moves from pizzica and tarantella. They are pioneers of Italian ragga music, a branch of reggae...
. The tour in the same year included performances at the inauguration day for "Turin Rome—World Book Capital
World Book Capital
World Book Capital is a title bestowed by UNESCO to a city in recognition of the quality of its programs to promote books and reading and the dedication of all players in the book industry....
", organized by Subsonica
Subsonica
Subsonica is an Italian rock band that was formed in 1996 in Turin. Their eponymous debut album debuted in the spring of 1997. The band gained real success in 2000 by playing the Sanremo Music Festival...
. At this show the band plays a version of its song Campeador de Vigna that weaves together the thread of the Miguel Cervantes's Don Quixote. The band also organized the inauguration day of "Terra Madre" in Turin.
Members
- Luca Morino - voiceVoiceVoice may refer to:* Human voice* Voice control or voice activation* Writer's voice* Voice acting* Voice vote* Voice message-In film:* Voice , a 2005 South Korean film* The Voice , a 2010 Turkish horror film directed by Ümit Ünal...
, guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with... - Fabio Barovero - accordionAccordionThe accordion is a box-shaped musical instrument of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone family, sometimes referred to as a squeezebox. A person who plays the accordion is called an accordionist....
, keyboardKeyboard instrumentA keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments... - Bienvenu Tatè Nsongan - percussionPercussion instrumentA percussion instrument is any object which produces a sound when hit with an implement or when it is shaken, rubbed, scraped, or otherwise acted upon in a way that sets the object into vibration...
, voice
Other members
- Josh Sanfelici - bass guitarBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
- Paolo Gep Cucco - drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
- Amik Guerra - trumpetTrumpetThe trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
Studio albums
- 1992 Sauta rabel
- 1994 Bass paradis
- 1996 Viva Mamanera
- 1998 Eldorado
- 2000 Safari Beach
- 2006 Dea
Compilations and lives
- 1997 Carnevalera
- 2001 Marasma General (live)
- 2004 Made in Italy (Mau Mau edition)
Singles
- 1994 "Adorè"
- 1996 "La Ola"
- 1998 "Eldorado"
- 1998 "Per Amor"
- 2000 "Due Cuori"
- 2006 "Dea"
- 2006 "Qualcuno verrà da te"