Italian Manu Chao
| Website: lucabassanese-officialsite.it |
| Press Kit: Download |
| Origin: Italy |
| Booking: Sabina Schebrak |
| Territories: exclusive for Austria, Germany, Switzerland non exclusive worldwide |
Live
| 17/01/25 | Treibhaus | Innsbruck | Austria | |
| 18/01/25 | El Lokal | Zurich | Switzerland | |
| 22/01/25 | Internationale Kulturbörse | Freiburg | Germany | |
| 20/02/25 | Oval – Die Bühne im EUROPARK | Salzburg | Austria | |
| 10/05/25 | Kulturfabrik INDUSTRIE36 | Rorschach | Switzerland | |
| 06/06/25 | Ulmer Zelt | Ulm | Germany | |
| 10/08/25 | Hafensommer | Würzburg | Germany | |
About
There has never been a more unusual career than that of Luca Bassanese. Ecologist and independent artist, Luca regularly fills public spaces and concert halls around the country with his mix of poetry, Italian folk music and electro-Balkan sounds. His performances with La Piccola Orchestra Popolare will put you in a good mood and make you want to dance, move your feet and lose yourself for a moment in a third reality. This is what happened to thousands of people in 2018 at various European festivals like Paléo in Switzerland, Esperanzah! and Dranouter in Belgium, and Vidor Festival in Hungary.
The artistic director of ‘Le Grand Soufflet’ festival in France wrote: “The minstrel, activist, poet and musician Luca Bassanese slays austerity by summoning Trans-alpine fanfares and tarantellas in a grand Fellini operetta, in a style that is both folk and world music. A musician who grew up with the records of the great Fabrizio de Andrè, and enlivened by the powerful folklore of the two shores of the Adriatic (the Italian and the Balkan), he fanned the embers of social engagement with klezmer hints of brass or heady gusts of opera buffa. What Luca Bassanese proposes to us is a modern spectacle, Circassian and ruffling, a new cornerstone in its work of restoration of the great Italian popular music.”
The best songs of his repertoire (12 albums since 2005) are part of Luca Bassanese’s new show, supplemented by new compositions produced by Stefano Florio, manager of the Buenaonda label. Over the years, Luca Bassanese has collaborated with numerous Italian and foreign artists, including, to name a few, the Original Kocani Orkestar of Macedonia, the Berber artist Bachir Charaf (nicknamed The Voice of the Desert), and the satirical artist Antonio Cornacchione. On his latest album also appears Jacopo Fo (son of the writer, playwright, director and actor Dario Fo, Nobel Prize for Literature) and the Choir Mondines de Bentivoglio. Luca is also a regular host of the prestigious Carnevale di Viareggio. Among the official recognition for his artistic and activist engagement, Luca has received several awards (Targa MEI, Premio Recanati Musicultura, Marcello Torre National Award, etc.).
Luca is without question one of the major characters of the new committed Italian popular music. His colourful shows are accessible to a wide audience, including family and children.
Current Projects
Quartet or Sextet Luca Bassanese & La Piccola Orchestra Popolare
Solo or Trio Luca Bassanese “Canzoni al Pianoforte”
Discography
2024 31 Canzoni al Pianoforte, CD, Aida Music
2023 Reset, CD, Ola Ola Music
2021 Piazza Bassanese II, CD, Ola Ola Music
2020 Piazza Bassanese, CD, Ola Ola Music
2019 Liberate l’Elefante! Venite Gente Pim Pum Pam, CD, Ola Ola Music
2019 Live at Paléo Festival Nyon, CD, Ola Ola Music
2017 Colpiscimi felicità, CD, Buenaonda
2015 Quando piove tutti cercano riparo tranne gli alberi che hanno altro a cui pensare, CD, Buenaonda
2014 L’amore (è) sostenibile, CD, Buenaonda
2013 Popolare contemporaneo – per l’acqua, per la terra per la dignità dei popoli, CD, Buenaonda
2012 La Rivoluzione, CD, Buenaonda
2011 C’è un mondo che si muove!, CD, Buenaonda
2010 Il Futuro del Mondo, CD, Buenaonda
2008 La Società dello Spettacolo, CD, Buenaonda
2006 Al mercato, CD, X-Land
2005 Oggi che il qualunquismo è un’ arte mi metto da parte e vivo le cose a modo mio, EP, X-Land
Press
“A minstrel show, full of music and fantasy, where italian Commedia dell’Arte meets Fellini’s magic world.”
Cabaret Sauvage@Le Bal Rital, Paris (FR)
“Luca Bassanese accompanied by the Piccola Orchestra Popolare, a passionate exhibition of strong scenic and musical impact. The actor, musician and ballad singer proved again to be one of the most interesting exponents of the Italian popular music world. “
Michele Fumagallo, Il manifesto (IT)
“The street orchestra accentuates the athmosphere with Bassanese the “philosopher”, outright and addictive.”
Andrea Laffranchi, Corriere della Sera (IT)
“In Paris, Place d’Italie, a crowd gathered and danced to the rhythm of the hectic tarantella of the Italian artist Luca Bassanese and his group. Congratulations to Luca whom we want to hear again in many public places of the city!”
Nadia Khouri-Dagher, Babelmed.net (IT, FR, UK)
„I was there… spectacular concert of Luca Bassanese and his band, magnificent, fantasy, poetry…“
Bruno Moio, Radio Aligre, Paris (FR)