A fascinating journey between the sounds and cultures of the Mediterranean in the search for a musical and lyrical language that unites its various populations.

This is the idea behind "Stari Most", the latest work by Stefano Saletti (founder and leader of Novalia) and the Piccola Banda Ikona, a newly formed group that brings together Ramya (Nuklearte), Elvira Impagnatiello, Mario Rivera (Agricantus), Giovanni Lo Cascio (Novalia), Carlo Cossu (Nando Citarella, Acustimantico), Gabriele Coen (Klezroym), Alessandro Mancuso (Beatipaoli), Gabriel Zagni, H.e.r and Giuseppe Tortora.

The cd is entitled "Stari Most" after the historical bridge in Mostar (Bosnia) that was bombed in 1993 and which has always represented a symbol of the meeting and passage between West and East. The bridge was destroyed by those who wished to increase the inter-ethnic and religious fighting, rather than contributing to the development of an authentic culture of dialogue and peace. The music and the texts of Stari Most make it a concept-album, focused on the theme of the meeting of different worlds who must begin once again to speak to one another, at all levels.

Stari Most is an homage to the Mediterranean, to its contradictions, its fascinating thousand year history and its different cultures. Many parts of this work were inspired by Predrag Matvejevic, the Croatian writer and intellectual, who wrote: "There does not exist a Mediterranean culture; but many different cultures that lie in the bosom of one Mediterranean".

The eleven songs contain the sounds of musical instruments like the Greek bouzouki, the Arabian oud and the darbouka together with more traditional Western ones. The texts range from Sicilian dialect to Hebrew, from Serbo-Croatian to Arabian, French and Lingala (the African language brought to Europe by numerous immigrants) as well as the ancient Greek language used by Saletti, in collaboration with Renato Giordano, for the soundtrack to Aristophanes’ "Le Vespe".

The musical path of the Piccola Banda Ikona thus becomes a fascinating journey between the sounds and cultures of the Mediterranean, mixed with the atmospheres of the popular traditions of Southern Italy and Balkan, Greek and Sephardic melodies. A journey in search of a musical and lyrical language that goes beyond folkloristic stereotypes, though which is characterised by its reworking of popular music.