The City's Song - The Napoli Sessions

After wandering through fascinating cities such as Mexico City, Ramallah, Tehran, and Johannesburg, musician Thomas Noël ends up in Naples with The City's Song. For this latest episode, he turns to musicians who are at home in everything related to traditional Neapolitan culture, but also to contemporary jazz musicians and musicians who shape the city's identity in a contemporary way.

The City's Song – The Napoli Sessions is a multifaceted and layered project that brings together elements of music, image, sound, tradition, and current events. It explores the intersections between folk music and jazz and is structured around six central themes: La Morte (Death), La Madonna (Woman), Il Mare (Sea), La Terra (Earth), Il Fuoco (Fire), Il Sogno (Dream). The result is a cinematic concert that attempts to capture Naples in sound and image.

Thomas collaborates with jazz drummer Emiliano Della Giovanna, who grew up in Naples and now lives in Ghent (B), knows both the Neapolitan and Flemish scenes very well, and forms the link between Ghent and Naples, as it were. This led to the formation of a larger collective of musicians and artists from both Flanders and Naples, who are jointly creating a cinematic concert in which the city is reflected and the diverse musical backgrounds of the respective musicians merge into a new sound.

Thomas began his research in Naples at the end of 2023, where he met flutist and singer Mimmo Magniolico. Together with Emiliano and Mimmo's partner in crime, guitarist Roberto Trenca, they embarked on a creative process. The collective is completed by bassist Marta Riccardi and singer/percussionist Carmine D'Aniello from Naples and violinist Wouter Vandenabeele from Ghent. The visual aspect is handled by photographers Sammy Van Cauteren and Silvio Siciliano and filmmaker Firas Al Hallak.