World Music Wednesday is a weekly segment on The North 103.3 FM. Every Wednesday at 4pm on Northland Afternoon, we will feature a brand-new release or a significantly important past work from our vast library of music from around the world.
Support for World Music Wednesday comes from Simply Ballroom in Duluth's Craft District.
On this World Music Wednesday, we are spotlighting the Italian group Opez, fronted by a duo of multi-instrumentalists Massi Amadori (guitars, slide guitar, percussions, ukulele, freeze sound & harmonium) and Francesco Tappi (double bass, bows, whistle). They have described their style as "Latin Desert and Funeral Party" music. To me, their sound is reminiscent of Cowboy Junkies mellow style with a dash of Django Reinhardt and Stephan Grapelli's jazz, and a bit of the ethereal mood sound off the 1990s albums by Friends of Dean Martinez.
Their first recording, Dead Dance, was released in 2015.
"We are not your normal type of rock band, you know," says Massi Amadori, who is the main songwriter in the duo. "We see ourselves as very Italian, very local."
They released their second album, Social Limbo, in November 2023, which was "recorded between Turin and Ravenna in the hot summer months from 2020 to 2023."
