Alan Sorrenti - Bel canto between prog and the discotheque

We meet Alan Sorrenti, who has just returned to the spotlight with a remake of "Figli delle stelle", for which he enlisted a guru of American house music like Little Louie Vega. It's an opportunity to retrace every phase of his career: from his beginnings rooted in progressive and vocal experimentation, through Neapolitan songs, to his chart-topping pop hits.

"I wanted the message of Figli delle stelle to come back, the one about dreaming of changing the world: it's still needed today. And it's true, as science is now showing, that we're all stardust, and this universal kinship should unite us and help us overcome all conflicts and discrimination". This is the Alan Sorrenti you don't expect. Willing to put everything back on the table. Even the hedonistic surface of his huge 1977 hit, just freshly polished up in a house key by American DJ Little Louie Vega.

Will it become an international hit now?

I hope so. Beyond the message, there's also music that was already "ahead of its time" back then, a funky-soul-pop sound inherited from the American LA sound, which only later would turn into dance music. It was the white version of Earth Wind & Fire.

Indeed, "Figli delle stelle" always had a remarkable groove, well suited to breaking through on the international market…

Right, at the time I was very interested in rhythmic research, I felt I needed to develop that side of things. In Louie Vega, an icon of house music, I saw a vehicle to communicate both from New York to the world and to new generations. All that was missing was the right bpm, which he gave it.

And how did it transform in the new version?

It's not your usual remix. It's been sped up, and my vocals have been re-recorded too. I wanted to use as little sampling and copy-pasting as possible. On top of that, there's a contribution from Cape Verdean vocalist Anane, with whom I essentially interact in a duet. But I think the result has stayed true to the spirit of the original.

To think that back then "Figli delle stelle" was seen as a betrayal… Some people have never forgiven you for it.

But it's also understandable: it was hard to grasp at the time. For me, that period was necessary to fully discover my vocal potential, to push myself, to take risks. What happened afterwards was undoubtedly a very traumatic change of style.

Yet melody was already a central element in your prog phase, wasn't it…

Yes, and in fact the lyrics always harked back to the idea of children of the stars, the cosmos… just think of "Aria". But prog – which at the time I didn't even know was called that, but in the end that's what they called it… – I never fully abandoned it. I'd love, for instance, to perform "Aria" again at some special event, ideally in Naples.

That album really was a masterpiece. Some have even compared it to the best work of Tim Buckley for its use of the voice. What do you make of such a significant comparison?

Yes, Buckley is an artist who influenced me a great deal. He had a voice without limits, extraordinary. And he was able to reinvent himself profoundly, moving from his early singer-songwriter work to that incredible phase of total experimentation, culminating in the masterpiece "Starsailor", which for me is truly one of the absolute peaks of music.

What pushed you to change course so abruptly?

Music was becoming politicized, and I felt used. Then there was a very important trip to Africa, which revealed to me the importance of rhythm and maybe changed my life. I remember incredible nights that went on until two in the morning… A magical period.

And then America…

Yes, I needed to go to America, to test myself against important musicians like Jay Graydon, Al Jarreau's producer. I wanted to bring my music to a wider audience, I felt I had the potential for it, and it's a desire that, sooner or later, pretty much every musician feels.

Will you go back to singing about your Naples? Perhaps not everyone knows that you've also released work inspired by that historic song tradition…

It's a temptation I feel, especially when I listen to all the beautiful things that come from that tradition. "Dicitencello vuie", which was the track that marked my transition from my prog phase to pop, came at just the right moment: I needed a classic that could express my particular vocal style. Today I'm not sure how I'd approach the Neapolitan tradition… For instance, there was an idea for a "Sienteme" redone with Club Dogo in a rap style: it's a Neapolitan song I wrote back in 1976. But I'm thinking more about original songs than reworkings of classics. In any case, I feel the need for a return, to pick back up the threads of my relationship with Naples.

Can you give us a preview of your next album?

It's a work in progress, right now we're taking it step by step. My plan, since I can also operate independently, was to release a single in November, then an extended play with other tracks, before arriving at a definitive, complete work in spring 2014. In the end, I think it will be a "global crossover", a mix of all the styles and all the worlds I've dived into over these 40 years of my career. We'll be working on it actively in the autumn, though I think it won't come out before 2014.

Will we see you live again, or even just on TV?

Yes, it's important to get back to singing live, and this is a moment when I also need to reactivate this media communication, because I actually have quite a few things to say.

(Extended version of an interview published in "Leggo", which holds the copyright)

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