Saro Tribastone
Fanusa

Review By Keith "MuzikMan" Hannaleck
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  Saro Tribastone has spent much of his career composing music for documentaries and touring with various Sicillian music groups; now he introduces his music to audiences around the world with his new EP CD Fanusa. This debut album boasts a modest four tracks, and a running time of approximatly fifteen minutes, and two of the tracks are actually alternate versions of the same song titled "Fanusa".

The album is like a little slice of the rich Mediterranean musical culture, and is evocative of the region's landscape and its people. With its flamenco guitar styling and Latin rhythms, however brief, it possesses the ability to transport the listener to that tranquil part of the globe.

The song "Fanusa" is subtle and rhythmic with a Spanish feel. I can imagine driving along the Costa Brava with the sea spread out below me to one side and olive trees poking out of the hill on the other - like a travel show that takes place in my mind.

"Serenade" is a gentle song, the kind you might hear at your table-side on the patio at a Spanish restaurant while dining in the moonlight; it is soft and catchy with a few simple layers. "Danza de la Luna Nueva" has a gentle vibrancy, as it builds in intensity it also deconstructs. Both are songs you could find yourself dancing to on your little visit to the old world. Fulvio Farkas on the tablas, Francesco D'Amico on the electric bass, and Nektarios Galanis on the bouzouki all blend together with Tribastone to create this wonderful getaway.

Like any vacation, this CD is over just when you are getting settled in, and that is the most disappointing part about listening to Fanusa. Perhaps this album is meant as a sample, a little travel brochure for a memorable vacation to come. I certainly hope so, because I could really use some more time to enjoy this melodic escape.

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