In 2021 I watched Wes Anderson's Life Aquatic. I was mesmerized by Seu George's rendition in Portuguese of some of David Bowie's greatest hits for the OST.
I remember I was driving home from Florence one night and I thought I would love to do something similar and I ruminated for long on the way back about who I'd cover in Italian. By the time we were almost in Modena I had decided it had to be Elliott Smith.
For the following months I carried my notebook with me, scribbling on the tube or a bus, waiting on bands to soundcheck. Any time was a good time to develop this idea. It took me a few months to finalize the translation of the lyrics and I still wasn't happy. I even changed a few lines on the spot when recording at @davidebombanella studio in 2024. Elliott was an amazing guitarist, his skills are way beyond mine, so for the guitars I asked @alelambo@marco.luppi_ and @nadielechiatto to help. Kings Crossing had drums played by @bedrumming , Angeles and Say Yes had @sarah.musicsessions add some flute harmonies. Federico Salvarani added bass to the songs.
Then we waited over a year for the rights to be approved which finally came in the recent months.
Here's the tracklist:
-Angeles
-Between the Bars
-Say Yes
-Somebody that I used to Know
-The Biggest Lie
-King's Crossing
The cover is acrilic paint and typewriter ink on seaweed paper.
It was a long time coming, I hope you like our tribute to Elliott Smith as much as we loved bringing it to reality.
G
#elliottsmith #figure8 #eitheror #umg
Sabato, Torre Modena. 15–17.
Ultima Revol Masterclass della stagione (ingresso gratuito).
Un live che diventa anche conversazione:
Elliott Smith tradotto in italiano, suonato dal vivo, e raccontato nel dettaglio: scrittura, suono, scelte (e inciampi).
Un progetto partito nel 2023, passato per studio, registrazioni, attese infinite per i diritti, e arrivato oggi a un EP: “Giack Bazz canta Elliott Smith” (fuori domani, 20 marzo).
❗Ultima occasione della stagione.
Se hai anche solo pensato di venire, passa!
20/03 - Giack Bazz canta Elliott Smith
5 songs from Elliott's repertoire that mean everything to me, now in Italian.
On bandcamp, then on less ethical platforms.
I thought I'd stand in front of a graffiti and have @bluemoonmusic_ take a picture.
Last year we took over @thesherriffcentre for a release party 🪩🌚 of the album we recorded together in Italy a year before (Bedtime Stories for Computers) 👾
It was such a fun gig with @roni_reeds 🥁, @alelambo 🎸, Federico Salvarani (bass), and yours truly 🪈🎹
Fiera di te @giackbazz 🧡
📸 by the one & only @wannalog.co.uk
