Album Notes

I’ve always loved Italian songs! When I was a little girl, singing along to 1950’s radio, every pop singer had an Italian-style hit song! So, when I moved to Monterey in 1983 and was asked to become the lead singer for Mike Marotta, Jr’s dance band—I was thrilled to sing these wonderful melodies at big Italian weddings and international gatherings at Pebble Beach and the Navy Postgraduate School! Mike’s mother, Phyllis, helped me with Italian pronunciation and his daughters, Kristi and Rachel, sang with me at Italian festival performances. We made a lot of wonderful music together!

In 1984, I met my husband, Frank Sunseri, and became, officially, ITALIAN—by marriage! While creating this album, Frank and I checked as many pronunciations with as many sources as possible. Because of regional dialects, very few sources agreed with each other! But that’s all part of the fun! Some of these songs were learned by “ear” and others were interpreted with the help of an Italian/English dictionary. Hopefully, the music speaks the universal language of joy, love and kindness that so many people of the Italian/American community have shown me.
Mille Grazie,
MaryLee Sunseri

"I’ve toured with this songbird and I love her!” BURL IVES

“Beguiles with song, wit and a twinkling good nature!” MONTEREY COUNTY HERALD

“Sweet looking and funny!” FIFTH ROW CENTER, CARMEL

“Radiantly pretty and with a voice as pure as a spring morning!” CARMEL PINE CONE