Roberto Laneri: Songs Of The Middle Space – Roberto Laneri

For Laneri, in the production of a composer, songs, Lieder or whatever one chooses to call them, represent his most authentic part, like a sort of intimate sound-diary. It is no accident that the songs in this collection cover a span of 50 years, from 1972 to the present: Laneri in fact never stopped writing songs, although of various kinds and aesthetics. The title, SONGS OF MIDDLE SPACE, refers to songs that belong neither here nor there, or, rather, are “here, there and everywhere” in the sense that they evoke different places, times and atmospheres which, furthermore, may overlap considerably. For the composer, in fact, different atmospheres and musical styles can coexist; jazz songs (with some freedom in phrasing and, at times, improvisation), memories from early 20th-century Broadway musicals, contemporary styles, and echoes from Latino and Indian music.