Singer-songwriter and storyteller from Castelsilano, Calabria
SalvatoreMazzei
He sings in Calabrian dialect of those who left and those who stayed: emigrants, the brigands of the Sila, patriots, the women who held their homes together. True stories, told without taking sides.
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Three songs, three stories in pictures. The first is the one Calabrians around the world have made their own.
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The songs and their stories
Album, December 2024
Cento anni di storia: dal Brigantaggio alla Repubblica
Seven songs, nearly all in Calabrian dialect, spanning a century: the Risorgimento, banditry, emigration, war. Each one tells of a person or an event. Pick one and read its story.
- 1GiosafatteThe «good brigand» of Panettieri: a student who takes to the woods to defend his sister's honour.
- 2Fratelli BandieraJune 1844: two Venetian brothers land at the mouth of the Neto to spark an uprising. Their road passes through Castelsilano. A betrayal is waiting.
- 3TrecentoSapri, 1857: the landing of Carlo Pisacane and his three hundred, in a song inspired by «La spigolatrice di Sapri».
- 4Pietro MonacoBourbon soldier, then one of Garibaldi's men, then a brigand. Three years as an outlaw and an end decided by money.
- 5CiccillaMaria Oliverio, known as Ciccilla: a spinner, wife of Pietro Monaco, the best-known brigand woman of the South.
- 6Za' MariuzzaA weaver from Castelsilano: the Great War, a husband who left for America and never returned, a son lost at six.
- 7Cunnanna e guerraA Calabrian soldier's letter to his sweetheart, written on the day of the armistice. He never came back.
The lyrics in dialect, with translation, are in the book.
The singles
Single, April 2023
Vuagliu cantare
«I want to sing»: the story of those who leave Calabria to study or to work, and carry the voice of home with them all their lives.
Single, 18 July 2024
18 luglio 1980
On 18 July 1980 a Libyan MiG-23 was found at Timpa delle Magare, in the Sila mountains near Castelsilano. A song about not giving up on the questions.
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The book, Gruppo Albatros Il Filo, April 2026
Dal brigantaggio alla Repubblica. Cento anni di storia
Calabria before and after Italian unification: population growth, the 1836 earthquake, economic crisis, social rebellion and the rise of banditry. Alongside well-known figures such as the Bandiera brothers, the book tells of ordinary people whose lives were marked by war, emigration and sacrifice.
Inside are the historical accounts and the lyrics of the album's seven songs, in dialect with translation. Preface by Giovanni Iaquinta.
Nuove Voci series, ISBN 979-12-236-1841-7, €15.90. It can also be ordered from any bookshop using the ISBN.
On stage, among the people
These songs are meant to be sung together: in the squares and villages of Calabria, on summer evenings, and on a few stages further afield. With guitar, chitarra battente and the stories of our land.
- 2015Premio Pierangelo Bertoli, third edition
- 2015Expo Milano
- 2015Tarantarsia, with KiDiDa: «Ciccilla» live
A concert or a book presentation where you live?
Associations, town councils, schools, Calabrian clubs in Italy and abroad: write to us.
What we offer schools, councils and associations
kalacunta@libero.itIn the press
- Italy
Dal brigantaggio alla Repubblica. Cento anni di storia nell'opera di ricerca di Salvatore Mazzei
LaC News24, 6 September 2026
- Argentina
«Dal Brigantaggio alla Repubblica»: la historia italiana hecha música
La Sfogliatella, 9 July 2025, interview in Spanish
- Argentina
«Vuagliu Cantare»: desde el corazón de Calabria para el mundo
La Sfogliatella, 26 October 2023, in Spanish
- Chile
Vuagliu cantare: la canción de los emigrantes en dialecto calabrés
itChile, in Spanish
Who is Salvatore Mazzei
Salvatore Mazzei was born in 1968 in Castelsilano, a small village in the Sila mountains, province of Crotone. At fourteen he left Calabria for Turin, where he attended secondary school, and later graduated in business economics from the University of Bologna. After many years away he returned to Calabria, where he lives with his family. «Vuagliu cantare» comes from there: from someone who left as a boy and knows what it means.
For many years he has gathered Calabrian stories and traditions. In 2012, after a gathering of friends, he founded I Kalacunta with Ludovico Grilletta, arranger and chitarra battente player, to bring Calabrian culture to the world, especially to the young. For his son Giovanni, known as GioMaz, he wrote «18 luglio 1980».
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For interviews, presentations, concerts, reviews or material requests.