Anthony Taddeo is a percussionist, composer, and performer residing in Cleveland, Ohio. He has studied with world-renowned percussionist Jamey Haddad and at The New School’s School for Jazz and holds an MFA in composition from Youngstown State University. Featuring on over 30 albums, Taddeo has toured North America and Europe at festivals such as Bern Jazz Festival in Switzerland, Ciclo 1906 Jazz Fest in Spain, and Cleveland’s Tri-C Jazz Festival. His film score for Making Montgomery Clift recently debuted at the LA Film Festival. Currently, Taddeo leads and composes for his groups AlbaTrio and Alla Boara. We caught up to discuss his career and latest recording “Le Tre Sorelle”.
Thank you for agreeing to catch up with Occhi Magazine. Congratulations on your career to date. For readers unfamiliar with your background, how were you drawn to a career in music?
Thank you for having me! It’s an honor to spend some time with you all! The idea of the following music as a career path was not always a clear option for me. I actually started tap dancing when I was 5 years of age and spent 12 years taking dance, acting, singing, and drumming fairly seriously. When it came time to pick what major I was going to pursue in college, it just felt as though drums and music summed up everything that I was passionate about.
Who are your musical influences
My greatest musical influences of all time are Jack Dejohnette and Jamey Haddad. Jack is my hero! I’ve drawn more inspiration from what he has created than anyone else. What he has done with the drums feels like the most natural extension of what Max Roach was doing to make the drums a more melodic instrument. Jamey Haddad has always been someone that has spoken into my life in a powerful way and is someone that I trust implicitly. His work with textures and understanding the spectrum of sound & groove in any situation is world-class. I’ve had the honor to study with him for many years and I consider him my greatest musical mentor. Other people on my list of top influential artists are people like Becca Stevens, Rudy Royston, Camila Meza, Nate Smith, and Billy Drewes.
You received your BFA in Music Performance at New School for Jazz & Contemporary Music and your MFA in Composition at Youngstown State University. Can you share with us your experiences as a student?
The New School was a life-changing experience. Getting to work with professors such as Reggie Workman, Jane Ira Bloom, and Amir Ziv opened my eyes to so many important concepts that have forever changed my approach to music and learning. My time in NYC gave me the opportunity to play alongside people like Camila Meza, Dan Tepfer, Ron McClure, and Frank Wes. They were the most formative years of my life. I really learned what my musical voice was while I was in NYC.
Fast forward almost TEN years, we moved back to Cleveland, and my wife and I were about to have our second child. So naturally, I felt that it would be a good time to start grad school! haha I had been wanting to get more of my composing chops together for a while and the opportunity to study at Youngstown State University with a professor that I deeply admired (Dave Morgan) seemed to just effortlessly unfold before me, so I jumped on it! (With my wife’s blessing of course).
I knew that I would be spending a considerable time focusing on my voice as a composer, but what I didn’t anticipate was uncovering an idea for a project that would profoundly change my career path. One day in my lesson with Dr. Morgan I was sifting through ideas of what to compose next and I remembered some field recordings of Italian folk music that I had discovered while doing a paper at the Newschool. I thought I would try and write a couple of compositions/arrangements based on them. Upon hearing those compositional sketches, my professor encouraged me to think about how I could grow this project past just the couple of compositions that I had written and it was at that moment that the idea for Alla Boara was born.
You’ve received several awards, including a Jazz Merit Scholarship from The New School and Diversity of Scholarship, YSU, and had a long list of notable performances. This includes performing at the Bern Jazz Festival and venues such as New York’s Birdland, and Blue Note. Congratulations on your achievement as an artist. Is there a particular event or milestone in your career you are the proudest of and why?
I don’t think there is any one thing that sticks out to me. To be honest, I’ve never really cared about “achievements” in the sense of winning awards or trophies. My greatest achievement will ever be is loving the people around me well and leaving this world with a little more joy than before. At this point in my career, the things that give me life are helping young people develop the tools that they need to discover who they are as an artist or making such a strong connection with an audience that everyone is living in that moment and that energy together. Those are the types of things that really make me proud.
Having kids of my own has given me such a different perspective on life. Right now I feel like investing in them and the younger generation will leave the most lasting and meaningful impact. Achievements are great and can help be a motivator to get things done or a way to mark special moments in your career, but when a student finally gets it, or an audience member is in tears and gives you a hug; those are the types of achievements that I am honored by most.
Your project Alla Boara seeks to give life to Italy’s diverse history of regional folk music. For the benefit of our readers, can you provide some history of Italian folk music, and your efforts to get the genre recognized?
First of all, you should know that my dad is from Italy and it’s because of him that I gained an initial interest in Italian culture. When I was in my undergrad I stumbled upon the 1954 field recordings of Alan Lomax (a well-known American ethnomusicologist), and my concept of what Italian folk music was forever changed. The folk music of Italy is SO much more diverse and beautiful than what the majority of the population realizes and much of it is virtually unknown. Because of where Italy is situated in the Mediterranean it was surrounded by diverse cultures and countries such as Greece, Africa, Spain, France, Germany, etc. They have all had a great impact on the sound of the folk music of Italy and some of these flavors that are a little more unique and interesting are what we try and highlight as Alla Boara. With our music, we try and demonstrate that our musical roots are still fertile ground for creative cultivation. We want to show that you can take something from our past, give your own voice to it and it can be a really rewarding (and surprising) experience!
Congratulations on your latest project ‘”Le Tre Sorelle”Please tell us more about the production of this project and the selection of talented musicians who contributed to the project.
Thank you! This whole process has been so unbelievable. All of these compositions would be nothing if it wasn’t for the extraordinary artistry of the musicians in Alla Boara. Amanda Powell (vocals) is most well known for her work with Grammy award-winning Apollo’s Fire and has the ability to sing these songs in a way that it breaks through any language barriers. Dan Bruce (guitars) is a wonderful composer and improviser, he also leads an amazing group of his own called the: Beta Collective. Clay Colley (accordion/piano) brings an incredible skill set to the group, playing multiple instruments along with the use of some samples. Tommy Lehman (trumpet/flugelhorn) is one of the most exciting young players in the Northeast Ohio jazz scene and his energy is unrivaled. Ian Kinnaman (bass) is actually the only member of the ensemble that has been along with me since the very beginnings of the concept. He was in the student ensemble that I was working with at YSU when I was getting my master’s degree. The album was produced by one of my closest friends Joel Negus and alongside David Kennedy, we recorded the whole album in an old theatre in Cleveland Heights. Throughout the album, you can hear guest appearances from artists like Jamey Haddad, Michael Ward-Bergeman, Chris Coles, and Ed Caner.
Each song on the album has a very specific origin story and region of Italy that it comes from. Fimmene, Fimmene is an example of a work song that was also a protest song. These women were singing out against their bosses and their working conditions, condemning the way that they were being treated. They would be singing these songs in front of the people that were doing this to them, when writing the music for this arrangement I wanted to display strength without there being a general display of masculine energy with solos etc. I looked to groups such as Zap Mama that seemed to have the perfect mix of beauty and strength in their music. The moments with the most tension represent the tension and possible torment that these women might have been feeling inside even though they were singing this song of protest in calm solidarity. I dedicated this song to all of the strong women in my life, but primarily my wife and my mother.
To find more lyrics and translations to all of our songs you can go to our website: https://www.allaboara.com/lyrics-translations-and-liner-notes
What other projects are you currently working on?
I also have a trumpet trio called AlbaTrio that I enjoy writing and performing with. It features Tommy Lehman on trumpet and Tim Lekan on Bass. When I am not leading either of these groups I am usually performing freelance alongside bands like Hey Mavis, Helen Welch, Bobby Selvaggio, Chris Coles, and a slew of other local musicians and bands. I also lead the bi-monthly jam session at the Bop Stop in Cleveland.
Where can our readers find out more about you?
Alla Boara is very active on Instagram, YouTube & Facebook. You can also check out our website where we keep up to date with our performances and video. We also have a Patreon page for people that are wanting even more exclusive content!
To see what other things I am up to personally you can find more info about me at my website and Instagram.
Thank you all so much for the opportunity and your interest in this project and album, it means so much to me to have the opportunity to share it with you!
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