Malaffare
‘Se Natale nun venesse ‘cchiù,
chi chiagnesse ‘e lacreme ‘cchiù amare?
‘e commercianti o ‘e creature?If Christmas never came again,
who would cry the bitterest tears:
the shopkeepers or the children?
On Sunday morning, Napoli Centrale’s 2001 album Zitte! Sta arrivanne ‘o mammone1 was playing loudly throughout my living room. James Senese, the Italian saxophonist, singer, and composer, the “brother in soul” of Neapolitan power, sang it. On Sunday morning, my house was listening to L’ultimo Apache2, No More, Maria Maddalena, Go Away, Il popolo dei cartoni3, and all the others. I told my daughter, That’s Jeans Senese. He’s a fantastic musician and a sublime storyteller; you have to meet him. And she loved it. She asked me to take her to one of his live events: Sure, I said. They were only talking about it on Sunday, while in my house, Afro-Neapolitan music was playing loudly. James passed away yesterday. I haven’t told my daughter yet. That bad deal.