OFFICINA ZOE' LIVE AT WOMAD UK 2017, Charlton Park - Siam Tent Stage - Pizzica Tarantata

Down in Salento - located approximately where the laces would be on italy's 'boot' - they take great pride in protecting tradition. One of the region 's most treasured cultural expressions is pizzica, the folk dance and musical style that come joined as one. Officina Zoé have been among pizzica's chief custodians for many years now , a six-pieces whose live performances have been known to provoke trance-like experiences, the long, drawn-out passages of intense vocals suddenly exploding into a flash fire of furious percussion and dizzying accordion. But this is also a group not content to exist merely in splendid isolation. They have also sought collaborations with those from elsewhere, including the Turkish multi-instrumentalist Mercan Dede or the Malian singer Mamani Keita and musician Baba Sissoko.