I wrote this piece in April 2016 about the richness of the music in Naples. This is an updated version – improved I hope – with a range of YouTube links at the end.
A busker in Naples, Italy
History makes music … it carves out life’s edges for the musicians to find.
Little wonder then that Naples, full of passion and secrets, is carpeted with song, with great singers and orchestras, and with the drift of the mandolin, of the saxophone and of jazz.
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A look back (first published 3 October 2015): I have heard several mandolin concerts in Naples since I wrote this article – the last time was in Piazza del Plebiscito under a huge sky. It was as right as the stars above.
The deep curves of the bowlback Neapolitan mandolin
It took us a while to find the little workshop and we had to squeeze in when we did – it was Saturday and the only door was open to visitors.
In fact La Bottega del Mandolino was so full of visitors (around a dozen or so), and every shape of mandolin and tool, that there hardly seemed space for Maestro Salvatore Masiello.
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The deep curves of the bowlback Neapolitan mandolin
It took us a while to find the little workshop and we had to squeeze in when we did – it was Saturday and the only door was open to visitors.
In fact La Bottega del Mandolino was so full of visitors (around a dozen or so), and every shape of mandolin and tool, that there hardly seemed space for Maestro Salvatore Masiello.
The Phraser 