This fascinating release is a unique project: the combination of church organ and percussion instruments performing early Italian keyboard music. This exciting and entertaining music has never been heard performed in this way by renowned organist Luca Scandali and percussionist Mauro Occhionero. The early keyboard music manuscripts not only included organ music for liturgical use, but also collections of dances, such as pavana, gagliarda, ricercada, saltarello, balletto, and canzona. The strong rhythmical element in these works is enhanced on this new recording by the use of percussion instruments as were in use in popular music of that period: drums, rattles, sticks, castagnets, claves, sistrum and such exotic instruments as def, djembe, darbuka, and tammorra. This music by Giovanni Picchi, Marco Cavazzoni, Gioseffo Guami, Christofano Malvezzi, and Giovanni Trabaci is recorded on a historical instrument built in 1551 by Onofrio Zeffirini.
