Andrea Grillini is an Italian, Bologna-based drummer who plays in the Spell/Hunger duo with sax player Piero Bittolo Bon, leads the Yoruba band (also with Piero Bittolo Bon), and has collaborated with David Murray, Ken Vandermark, Marc Ducret, and Steven Bernstein. Stefano Costanzo is an Italian, Naples-based drummer who describes himself as a “noise, song, and groove maker. He has collaborated with Evan Parker, Markus Stockhausen, and Elliott Sharp.
The title of Grillini and Costanzo’s duo drum album, Nakki Nakki, refers to the Italian expression «Nec hic, nec hoc», which comes from Latin and means «neither this, nor that». «Chi nicchi e nacchi» is also a Sicilian idiom that means «What are you talking about?» or «What does that have to do with anything?» It is used to express annoyance or surprise when something is irrelevant to the current conversation or situation.
Nakki Nakki is indeed an intense, quite loud, and colourful, free improvised conversation that is often a heated argument between two strong-minded and stubborn men. It is not really important what they are talking or arguing about. Together, they make layered, nuanced, and unconventional rhythmic and resonant textures. When they lock in on an idea, nothing can disturb their hyper-kinetic flow of hypnotic rhythmic patterns.
Eyal Hareuveni
Andrea Grillini (drums), Stefano Costanzo (drums)
