N.Y. Times
CAPPUCCINO TO CAFE' AMERICANO
For more than a decade, the Italian pop/blues musician known as Zucchero has been a star in his native Italy and in neighboring countries. He has released 11 albums, and he has recorded with rock luminaries including Bono, Sting and Eric Clapton. But none of that won him an audience on these shores. He had a small fan base in the United States, and his label, Universal Music Italy, had released albums here, but they never sold many copies.
“I was saying to myself, forget America already”, Zucchero said in an interview at his home, a rustic farm in Tuscany.
So the gravelvoiced singer was surprised when, of all possible venues, Starbucks expressed an interest in featuring his work. His latest CD, “Zucchero & Co.”, is now featured on the stores’ shelves and has sold more than 60.000 copies.
Might the singer be the first artist to make the fully caffeinated transition from the land of cappuccino to the land of Café Americano? “For the first time in 15 years I’ve arrived in the United States, and I’m very happy”, he said. “It’s something that was unexpected”.
Adelmo Fornaciari, who was born in 1955 in the province of Reggio Emilia, Italy, was given the name Zucchero – meaning “sugar” – by a teacher who thought the boy was sweet and shy. Although he is not shy, he is by his own admission “introverted”.
“I drink, I smoke, I never practice, and my voice becomes more interesting the older I get”, he said.
His friend Bono, he said, pushed him to reach American audiences. “My roots are Italian and black music, which is not the typical Italian style, but a mixture of soul, rhythm-and-blues, Puccini and Verdi”, he said. “I’m not like Bocelli, who Americans love and is a crossover between pop and lyrical – that’s why it’s harder for me”.
Well, perhaps some tastes just go better with a double shot of espresso and a half-skim froth on top. If so, his ability to build a new audience one cup at a time will be of great interest to unheralded musicians at cafes around the world. Zucchero plans to come to the United States in December to promote the record. And he is working on material for his new album, which he had planned to record in New Orleans. “I have New Orleans in my heart since I was 10 or 11 and fell in love with the music”. He looks out the window over the green Tuscan hills. “I hope they’ll rebuild soon. But it won’t be like before”.
By Angela Frucci
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