Demme to direct Avitabile docu

ROME -- Jonathan Demme will direct a Naples-set music docu about Enzo Avitabile, the local jazz and fusion musician of whom he is a big fan. Demme, whose previous portrayals of music bands include docus about Neil Young and The Talking Heads, unveiled the project in Naples where he met with Mayor Luigi de Magistris, who is supporting the pic and will also appear briefly. Producer Davide Azzolini is shepherding via his Dazzle shingle with financing from RAI Cinema, the film arm of Italo pubcaster RAI. Avitabile is a sax player and songwriter who, after touring internationally and collaborating with James Brown and Tina Turner, among others, returned to his Southern Italian roots and incorporated the sacred Southern Italian "Bottari" tradition involving the use of barrels as percussion instruments, into his sound. His "Salvamm' O Munno" (Save the World) album, with the Bottari pulse, was nominated for a BBC Award for World Music in 2006. Demme heard a track of this album on the radio while driving his car, became a big fan, and asked Azzolini if he could put him in touch with Avitabile when Demme attended the Naples Film Festival in 2010, Azzolini said. The Demme docu, working-titled "Enzo," will include a live performance by Avitabile and a host of world music stars, such as Eliades Ochoa, from the Buena Vista Social Club group, Palestinian singer Amal Murkus, Indian percussionist Trilok Gurtu, Iranian sitar virtuoso Hossein Alizadeh and Spanish guitarist Gerardo Nunez. The fertile Neapolitan music scene, which comprises forms of jazz, blues, rock and rap, which fuse local sounds with African and American influences, has also recently featured in John Turturro's well-received docu "Passione." Contact Nick Vivarelli at nvivarelli@gmail.com