Enzo Avitabile in Rome

Enzo Avitabile is an Italian singer-songwriter, saxophonist and composer, born in Naples in 1955. He makes Neapolitan-rooted music shaped by soul, funk, jazz and Mediterranean folk traditions. His key recordings include Salvamm'o munno and Black Tarantella, while “Il coraggio di ogni giorno,” performed with Peppe Servillo, took him to the Sanremo Festival. In the 2000s, Enzo Avitabile brought Salvamm'o munno to the stage with I Bottari di Portico, an ensemble that turns barrels, vats and sickles into percussion instruments. The partnership became a long-running concert format built around his singing and saxophone, and its working life was captured in Jonathan Demme’s documentary Enzo Avitabile Music Life.