Maria Mazzotta @ The Drake

Italian singer-songwriter Maria Mazzotta spent much of her career celebrating and exploring the nuances of the traditional music of her home region, Apulia’s Salento peninsula, first as a member of the internationally renowned ensemble Canzoniere Grecanico Salentino, then in her early solo work.

Mazzotta’s 2020 album, Amoreamaro, is both a gorgeous collection of open, emotional performances and a fascinating document of a musician and composer exploring the edges of a tradition awash in international influence. Mazzotta’s music on that effort ventures out from Salento (the heel of Italy’s boot) finding influences from across the Adriatic, Ionian, and Mediterranean, and shaping a sound at once fundamentally Pugliese and intriguingly international.

On her most recent release, 2024’s Onde, Mazzotta tears up whatever was left of her initial script to deliver a profoundly brilliant work in which Salentino tradition forms the foundation of a sound that not only pulls influence from southern Europe and northern Africa but layers in fuzzy, gritty post-rock experimentation. Mazzotta, along with percussionist Cristiano Della Monica and guitarist Ernesto Nobili, set out to create a collection of songs that move and vary like the sea (onde translates to waves). And they accomplished exactly that, capturing the calm, the fury, the raw power, and the infinite changeability of tides in a collection of traditional and original songs that is impossible to set aside. Entrancing, captivating, enveloping, Onde pulls the listener in and works its will in a manner that reflects Mazzotta’s live performances. With her commanding voice and dynamic stage presence, Mazzotta makes every concert an immersive experience. Join us to see, hear, and feel it for yourself.