Attractingwas the first 'artistic residency' in Kenya. This is an opportunity that our Ministry of Foreign Affairs grants to young talents in music and the other arts to settle for a few weeks in a foreign capital and, through the Italian Cultural Institute of reference, get to know the local cultural environment, exchange experiences with counterparts in the same discipline, do internships and meetings, offer their own experience and learn from that of peoples often very different from our own.
In the case of Matteo Di Leonardo, a jazz guitarist not yet 30 years old, the visits to Kenya have already become three and have built a path whereby, as the Teramo musician reveals, 'a little piece of me is Kenyan'. Having completed his artistic residency with numerous live performances in Nairobi and Malindi, we remember with pleasure the one at the Bar Bar in Malindi with the Mijikenda Jazz Band, an interesting example of mixing that we could hardly have imagined. But young people are able to surprise because they are able to immerse themselves in the reality of their times without the snobbery and presumption typical of those who have studied and have a talent for a 'high' musical genre and come face to face with situations at the cultural antipodes. Despite the abysmal differences in his conception of cultured music and jazz technique, Matteo has encountered environments that have enriched him, as he recounts in Freddie del Curatolo's interesting interview for the youtube channel of Italians in Kenya.