![]() ![]() Meanwhile, Laurent has learned to play the saxophone on his own. Facing his shortcomings in Italian, he decided to learn it, encouraged by the discovery of History, cinema, archaeological sites, the cultural richness of the country, giving his belonging a bigger picture. Forty years after she had left, his mother reunited with her sister, and Laurent discovered a whole unknown branch of the family tree. But at the age of 17, Laurent went with his family to Sicily for the first time. Often their summer holidays took place in Northern Italy the link with the south seemed to be broken. The children learned the piano, Laurent also tried his hand at the saxophone. On the Belgian side, his father, a fan of blues and rock'n roll, preferred Fats Domino and Jerry Lee Lewis, but never denied himself the pleasure of hearing Adriano Celentano's Svalutation on his old jukebox. They often spoke of the journey to Belgium, the violinist uncle killed by a bus on the way to a concert, the elder sister left behind, love and family stories. Italy was never far away: the daily culture of music and cuisine, enhanced by the grandmother’s undeniable accent, enriched the family novel, as in many exiled families. Laurent grew up listening to the melodies of Salvatore Adamo, Bobby Solo, Domenico Modugno. Laurent Doumont was born in a family of musicians and music lovers: his mother, a drummer and accordionist, played every weekend with her brother, sister and two of her brothers-in-law in a local ballroom band, the Saint-Tropez. Whether traditional tunes or more modern ones that have reached the ears of Italian youth in the diaspora through radio or cinema, every Italian song carries with it a little nostalgia for the country. If, among all the things that connect them to Italy, cuisine often occupies the impregnable first place, music - songs in particular - also plays a significant role. ![]() Wherever they are in the world, Italians always keep a strong link with their region of origin. Née Lo Presti, she left her native Sicily at the age of eight with her mother and three of her siblings to go and join her father who was working in the Walloon mines. As the name doesn't suggest, Laurent Doumont is Italian through his mother’s side. ![]()
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