Terra Madre

I’ve had the immense pleasure of seeing Beppe Gambetta perform live at a cozy venue in Harrisburg, Missouri. He is a master of his craft; a one man orchestra. His playing is strongly influenced by the great flatpickers of our time, but also has elements of classical and contemporary music of the world. I’ve also had the honor of dining with Beppe; he is a man of culture, complexity and compassion.

Terra Madre is a reflection of Beppe’s character.  It is a deep journey through the innerspace of his mind and spirit. It plays to the listener like a waking dream spun of the tales of beauty, joy, sadness and pain encapsulated within it’s songs. Although most of the album is in Italian, it doesn’t take a world traveler to feel the messages contained in every tune. Like life itself, Terra Madre is an opus of vast proportion, yet simple and straight forward.

Beppe’s instrumental efforts are vast as well; he plays a number of guitars, some specially “prepared” to achieve unique sound. Aside from some of the obvious guitars you’d hear on most flatpicking guitar albums are the baritone guitar, glockenspiel, Cuban tres, and bouzouki guitar. He is accompanied by some of the finest musicians—like David Grisman on mandolin, Howard Levy on harmonica and Travis Book on bass. Perhaps one of the highlights of the album is “Sit and Pick With You,” featuring Grisman and Book along with Tim O’Brien and Dan Crary. The song is an homage to the great joy and sense of honor Beppe feels from his life spent in the company of such fantastic players. During his live shows, and YouTube video, Beppe Gambetta plays a slideshow of dozens of the players he has shared the stage with through the years, some of whom have left this mortal coil.

There’s more than just fantastic artistry to Terra Madre. There’s philosophy, reciprocity and perseverance in the face of adversity. It stirs great emotions within and reminds us to appreciate our lives.