Ettore Buzzini reviews
S-380
Ettore Buzzini
Happy (single)
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S-379
Ettore Buzzini
Don't Love Me (single)
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S-391
Ettore Buzzini
Flowers (single)
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Fresh for spring, 18-year-old “banjo heartthrob”, songwriter, and vocalist Ettore Buzzini releases his new single, “Flowers,”on the Patuxent Music label, available March 27 on all major streaming platforms. Written by Ettore and produced by Tom Mindte, label owner and founder of Patuxent Music, the release continues to show that Ettore’s talents go beyond his prowess as a banjo prodigy, highlighting his penchant for songwriting and composition.
“Flowers” is, on the surface, a straightforward bluegrass love song, a springtime frolic with Ettore’s signature banjo flourishes. But it’s also an homage to his Swiss family’s musical roots and influence. Ettore’s prior release, “Don’t Love Me,” translated a nineteenth century poem into traditional bluegrass form. “Flowers” highlights his songwriting and composition talents.
“Flowers”is the latest release from his forthcoming album, Blue Blue Blue, which will showcase how Ettore’s eclectic abilities. He plays everything from the Stanley Brothers to the romantic composer, Franz Liszt. The inspiration for “Flowers” can be traced partially to Liszt’s piano work “Réminiscences de Norma”
“The richness and intensity of classical music are ideal for taking bluegrass on a musical voyage,” says Ettore. “Bluegrass is ripe for exploring those extended emotional journeys…letting the music and the audience ride the wave of feelings together.”
Ettore’s musical influences run deep. The tradition comes to him from his Swiss family’s musical heritage--his Italian great grandmother was a classical soprano and director of a sacred choir in Switzerland - his paternal grandfather a promoter of a music festival in Ascona, Switzerland. Ettore’s maternal grandfather was a bluegrass banjo player.
“Flowers” flows with the simplicity of an unpretentious, humble love song to be enjoyed like a freshly picked bouquet of spring flowers.
“The brightest colors, the deepest hues,
The whole world over, from here to the moon.
If I had every flower paint a picture of you,
It wouldn’t be enough for all I love about you.”
Eddie Ray Buzzini - banjo, guitar, vocals
Danny Knicely – mandolin, guitar
Marshall Wilborn – bass
Patrick McAvinue – fiddle
Willie Marschner – fiddle
Mason Via – vocals
Tom Mindte – vocals
Ida Rose Buzzini – vocals
Lyla Cherry - vocals
Lake Carver – vocals
Tae Childress – guitar
John Powell - vocals
Kyser George – guitar
Luke Morris – mandolin
David George – bass
Southbound 77 Bluegrass - vocals, guitar
Ragnarok
Farewell Blues
Bringin’ in the Georgia Mail
I’ll Try Not to Care
When You and I Were Young, Maggie
Preachin’ Prayin’ Singin’
Cash Don’t Sleep
New Camptown Races
You’re No Good
Old Flame
Sunny Ray
Daniel Prayed (feat. Southbound 77 Bluegrass)
“I plan to carry this music forward to the twenty-second century.”
Eddie Ray Buzzini’s bold declaration is not so far-fetched, as he was born in 2007 and may well still be picking in 2101. A second of Eddie Ray’s aspirations is to convince his contemporaries that bluegrass and particularly banjo music is cool, up-to-date, and should be considered legit. Confirming his commitment to both intentions, the music on Eddie Ray’s solo debut album covers well over a century of compositions. Ranging from “When You and I Were Young, Maggie,” composed in 1864, to several new songs written by Eddie Ray, the disc offers a wide array of American music in the bluegrass style.
Eddie Ray, whose given name is Ettore, lives in a multi-lingual household in Mooresville, North Carolina where his Swiss-Italian father and East-Tennessee born mother offer him a vibrant mix of European and Appalachian culture. He plays his grandfather’s banjo and listens to Flatt & Scruggs and Reno & Smiley as well as many of the contemporary bands that are playing today. Eddie Ray’s musical tastes are not limited to bluegrass. Country classics, Latin Jazz, and the guitar of Eddie Van Halen are all on his listening and playing agenda.
The three original compositions on this project prove that Eddie Ray is already on a trajectory to become an inventor as well as conveyor of widely varying musical styles. His “Ragnarok,” composed at age eleven, is a saga of the battle that brought an end to the great Norse gods, including Odin and Thor. “Cash Don’t Sleep” is the emotive tale of an undocumented immigrant who runs into some serious difficulties trying to get to his family in North Carolina. “I’ll Try Not to Care,” cowritten with Mason Via and producer Tom Mindte, focuses on classic “boy meets girl” drama – their parting leaving the boy with a bad case of teen angst.
Joining Eddie Ray on this project instrumentally are Danny Knicely, Marshall Wilborn, Patrick McAvinue, and Willie Marschner. Mason Via and Tom Mindte are featured on several numbers singing harmony vocals.
As a special treat, Southbound 77, a bluegrass band of young pickers that Eddie Ray regularly performs with, gathers for the final offering here.
Sit back, relax, and enjoy this presentation of Eddie Ray’s wide-ranging musical gifts - his first – and it won’t be the last!
Tom Mindte
Patuxent Music