We are very pleased to announce that the mamboliciously fabulous Bella Ciao band has just released a new 14-track CD titled Festivus Italiano.

Festivus Italiano is a collaboration of the unique stylings of popular accordionist Tom Torriglia and world renowned vocalist Michelle Full. Festivus Italiano follows the success of Bella Ciao’s first CD, Legends of the Italian Lounge.

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The Bella Ciao band is very unique in that it concentrates its music on Italian and Italian-American music of the late ’50 and early ‘60s and today’s Italian-American hits that are reminiscent of the retro music from that period.

That is, we write original music to the Italian-American genre from the past…a time when all you needed in life to be happy was a red-checkered table cloth, a bowl of pasta, a glass of vino and your amore…in such a seamless manner that often you really can’t tell the retro from the new.

Bella Ciao’s musical goal is to revive, promote and continue the rich heritage of the musical genre known as Italian-American music, the genre of music that included famous Italian-American songs from Jerry Vale, Dino, Louis Prima, Al Martino, Connie Francis, et al. Bella Ciao also pays homage to Italian artists of the period including Renato Carosone and Mina.

To find out where Bella Ciao is, you need to know where we’ve been. Bella Ciao’s first album is titled Legends of the Italian Lounge and it was the first CD in over 40 years to introduce America to new, original Italian-American music and complete re-workings of classic covers.

Of the eight original songs on Legends of the Italian Lounge, one cut, Blue Italian Skies, was a first-ballot Grammy-nominated song back in 2006! We’re all very proud of getting an original Italian-American song nominated and we hope to get some Grammy-nominated songs from Festivus Italiano.

With Festivus Italiano, we are keeping the tradition going with three retro originals; Mambiambo, the Wine Song and the happy Rina and Danielle Polka and unique, updated arrangements of fun cover tunes. For example, our re-working of Oh Marie includes a Connie Francis-like ballad in the first half and then we ripped a page from Louis Prima’s songbook for the second half. Bella Ciao’s version of Mambo Italiano is about as far from Rosemary Clooney’s version as you can get – completely stylized and sung in Italian.

Work is already underway on Bella Ciao’s next studio CD which will further try to keep this rich musical heritage going with original material including The Minestrone song, My Italian Gigolo, On My Roman Holiday, Maria Bella and more.

Being a San-Francisco based band, we aware of diversity and that’s why the band is fronted by the lovely Michelle Full, an Asian-American who sings perfectly in Italian. It’s so funny to watch people’s jaws drop when they see her sing in Italian and we just tell the audience she’s from Trieste – over on the far eastern side of Italy.

Bella Ciao primarily performs locally and regionally but has traveled as far as Virginia Beach, VA to perform for the loving masses.

Label: Festa Records

Track list:

1. Oh Marie
2. Sway
3. Bongo Bongo Bongo
4. Tintarella di Luna
5. Mambo Italiano
6. On an evening in Roma
7. It Had Better Be Tonight
8. Blame it on the Bossa Nova
9. Papa Loves Mambo
10. Quando Quando Quando
11. Rina and Danielle
12. Mambiambo
13. The Wine Song
14. Mamma

Personnel

Michelle Full - lead vocal

Mary Keydash – bass, vocals

Tom Torriglia – accordion, piano, vocals

Rick Jones – guitar, mandolin, clave, vocals

Jim Cahill – drums, vocals

John Tanko - saxophone

Thanks,

Tom