Dave De Santi
From Australian Traditional Music People
Jump to navigationJump to searchDave (David) De Santi, collected and arranged some of the Australian tunes in this archive.
The National Library of Australia holds aural recordings of interviews conducted with Dave De Santi. He was interviewed by
- Peter Parkhill in January 1997, [1], Aniello De Santi and David De Santi interviewed. Folk recording. Aniello DeSanti with David DeSanti talks about emigrating from Campania, Italy (1955) to Australia; cutting cane in North Queensland; how he began to play music at eight years old; family background; brass bands; festivals; band instruments and repertoire; folk instruments from the region, zampogna, organetta, fisarmonica, and flutes; music played on special social occasions, popular songs and dance tunes; traditional song, stornelli and tarantella; his schooling; WWII experiences; Resistance movements; war songs; political songs; communist songs; the symbolic use of melodies; Gypsies; markets, donkey sellers; Gypsy music and dances; joining a Brass band at age 14, playing trombone; learning the piano accordion in Australia; learning to read music; arriving in Australia, aged 24; the reasons why he chose Australia; sailing on the 'Roma', owned by Flotta Lauro (1955); life in a migrant hostel in Fremantle; travels to Innisfail, Qld., starts cane cutting; wages; accidents cane cutting, compensation; dances, band with guitar, mandolin, bass and violin; unions; church on Sunday; his move to Port Kembla, N.S.W.; accommodation; steelworks, working in the yard (1956); working night and day; his job with State Rail Mechanical Branch; trip to Italy, 1960-61, returning with his wife; his house in Port Kembla, arrangement with bank; Port Kembla during the 1950s-1960s; Italian dances and films; tensions between Anglo Australians and Italians; home made wine, making prosciutto and salami; Italian radio program; the Italian community; assimilation and discrimination at work; bosses; playing music in Australia; buying his first accordion in Port Kembla from Italian worker; Italian musicians in Port Kembla; starts playing accordion in 1970s (self taught), Italian parties; popular music (Canto popolare); folk musicians.
- Alex Hood in November 2007, [2], Folkloric recording. Dave de Santi, born 1963 in Wollongong, N.S.W. speaks about his Italian family background; his early years in the Wollongong area; learning piano accordion from his father; the family move to Oak Flats (1970); his education; religion; the 'Bushwackers' reviving his interest in music; obtaining a Mechanical Engineering Traineeship; studying Civil Engineering at Wollongong University; working for BHP; the 'Mucky Duck Bush Band' (1985); attending the Marshall Mount Dance, old time dance; Arthur Bowley; meeting wife Tanya; sporting achievements; playing for Warrabush Band, while at University; Steve Marshall; Seamus Mackie; Bluegrass bands; playing for parties; bush dancing scene (1986) at Heinenger Hall; playing at Wednesday night dances and other venues, Bush Music Club and Folk Festivals; Horton River Band; Charlie Batchelor; learning Italian music; Pat Drummond; Illawarra Folk scene being unique; Rob Willis; becoming more interested in traditional music and songs (1986); his various influences; going back to roots of Australian music; overseas people wanting a distinctive Australian flavour; John Meredith. // De Santi discusses how the Wongawilli Band came to be; their first performance (1987); names first band members; taking over Heinenger Hall as their first venue; the Bi-centenary; joining the Workers' Educational Association (WEA) class on bush dancing (1986); the formation of the Wongawilli Dancers; the beginning of packaging dancers with music; playing with 'Paddy's River Band'; Neil McCam; John Harpley; John Spillane; band personnel; Peter Ellis; Alan Musgrave; Glen Innes Bush Music Festival; Bush band championships 1992 to 1996; Jamberoo Festival beginnings (1985); Russell Hannah; Illawarra Folk Club; involving political material in the festival; Kiama Bush Festival; Wongawilli Colonial Dance Club (1990); Illawarra Folk Club; the Dance club operating every Wednesday night and becoming a venue for International artists, sometimes up to 28 musicians play; social interaction being the main purpose of the group; Maleny Festival; Illawarra Festival; Jason and Chloe Roweth; Jane Brownley.
- Live at the local / Wongawilli (CD) 1999 , [3], Wongawilli - Jane Brownlee, fiddle ; David De Santi, accordion ; Tania De Santi, piano ; Graeme Murray, vocals, whistle, percussion ; Reg Murray, banjo, mandolin ; Chloe Roweth, vocals, mandolin ; Jason Roweth, vocals, guitar.
David De Santi, and Jane Brownlee were awarded the first NLA NFF Folk Fellowship in 2004.
More information is available from:
- ReverbNation - David De Santi profile.
- ReverbNation - Wongawilli Band
- Wongawilli Colonial Dance Club
Some of his publications included:
- Tunes of Arthur Bowley
- Tunes of Bert Jamieson
