Bononia Sound Machine, in collaboration with the Porretta Soul Festival, presents: “SWEET SOUL MUSIC” – Tribute to the Porretta Soul Festival.
On 28 November 2025, the warmth of Soul music returns to vibrate on the stage of the Dehon Theatre in Bologna with “Sweet Soul Music”, a musical project by Bononia Sound Machine that pays tribute to the legendary Porretta Soul Festival, an international point of reference for lovers of “music of the soul”.
The Bologna-based band will perform a tribute to the immortal music of Otis Redding, Solomon Burke, Rufus Thomas, Wilson Pickett and many other leading figures who wrote the history of Soul and who, over the years, have brought to life the stage of Rufus Thomas Park.
Making the event even more special will be the special appearance of Graziano Uliani, creator and director of the Porretta Soul Festival, who together with Lorenzo Bombacini, founder of Bononia Sound Machine, will guide the audience with stories, anecdotes and curiosities about the great artists who have made the Emilian festival famous.
Screenings of archive videos and images will frame the music, offering an immersive experience that weaves together sound, words and memory.
“Sweet Soul Music” is not just a concert: it is a journey through the history of a musical genre which, with its rhythm, energy and intensity, still today unites generations of artists and fans.
Bononia Sound Machine is a twelve-piece Soul-Funk band, one of the most acclaimed and long-standing on the Italian Black Music scene. Founded in Bologna in 1992, it has five record releases and three theatre productions to its name, as well as numerous concerts in Italy’s most prestigious venues, including the Blue Note in Milan, in major town squares and theatres around the region, and at the main festivals dedicated to Black Music – above all, the Porretta Soul Festival.
Raf Bafunno – Keyboards
Lorenzo Bombacini – Baritone Sax, Band Leader
Alessandro Casolari – Guitar
Vic Johnson – Lead Vocals, Harmonica
Max Marchetti – Tenor Sax, Alto Sax
Alessandro Morini – Trumpet, Flugelhorn
Alberto Pietropoli – Tenor Sax, Alto Sax, Soprano Sax, Flute
Renato Raineri – Drums
Maurizio Rubiu – Bass
Chiara Sorrentino – Lead Vocals
Elena Villani – Lead Vocals
Federico Zardi – Trumpet
The Porretta Soul Festival was founded in 1988 and over the years has grown in prestige and renown, becoming the most important European event dedicated to Soul and Rhythm & Blues music. The idea of the festival was born on 10 December 1987. On the occasion of the meeting between Graziano Uliani and the family of Otis Redding during the celebrations for the twentieth anniversary of the death of the King of Soul, the promise of a festival in honour of “Big O” became reality. The path Uliani chose to build the festival was to give a voice to those who had helped create the great Soul classics.
In over thirty years, the most important names in Soul have passed through Porretta, many of them coming especially for the first time to Europe; others, true legends, have been tracked down in remote corners of the Deep South of the USA and brought back before audiences and the international press, which has spoken of the “Porretta miracle” as one of the musical events of recent years.
