Jazz Anew: Gabin and "Sweet Sadness"

About a year ago, I made a world music CD mix for my cousin. Later, I asked her if she enjoyed the music. She replied that she liked it very much, except for the song with bagpipes on it.

My cousin is of Italian heritage. "But that is your heritage!" I exclaimed. I told her that the band using the bagpipes was Italian, and that the bagpipes were a particular type of Italian bagpipe, and the song itself was an old Italian song and that if she listened, at the end she'd hear a clip of an old man singing the original version. (By the way, the song was Girometta by Fiamma Fumana)

I don't think I convinced her that she should like the song, but once again, listening to music from around the world has at least given me an appreciation of the breadth of music that can be found in various countries. I suppose that once, when I was less exposed to world music and relatively ignorant, I really thought that the world was divided into two musical genres. There was pop, which sounded like pop all over the place, and then the traditional music of each area. And I had an idea of what the traditional music of each area or country sounded like. For Italian traditional music, I suppose I had an idea that it sounded like music from The Godfather, with accordions.

In truth, Italian music encompasses all that and more. There is a lot innovation going on in music and Italy is no exception. Traditional music is being blended with all kinds of influences in Italy, creating some great music both based in traditional Italian styles and also taking far afield our concept of what Italian music means. If you would like to hear some of the different Italian music styles, I have put together a mix of Italian music that you can access online.

This song, Sweet Sadness, is by the Italian duo Gabin, who practice a style of music called nu jazz. Nu jazz is a style of jazz developed in the 1990s that blends other styles such as funk, electronica and soul with free improvisation. The band's name, Gabin, references the most popular French actor of the 1930s and 40s. They have collaborated with other artists such as Dee Dee Bridgewater and Latin dance leader Nicola Conte, and their music has been used in film and television. They have released seven albums. Sweet Sadness is from their 2002 self-titled debut album.