About Me
--------------This page shall mainly be dedicated to my musical activity. I'm a former pilot , and that had a deep influence in the way I perceive the music inside my soul, I do love fly as well as play music.
I did also attended the school-of-art become later industrial designer , and this like some others interesting activities had a big effect even in the way I play my instruments , among many other activity photography is certainly the other face of my artistic perception , about that last "face of mine" you can find out more visiting my official web site at : http://www.gizio.it in the related section dedicated to the art of imagination……oh by the way you can find more and more interesting things at this address.My musical activity started after many experiment with several kind of instruments long time before I touched a saxophone , however one night in the far 1987 ,while I was immerged with my walkman in the liquid and sparkling "saxophone sound" listening (Voyeur) by David Samborn and (Steps) by Steps Ahead while keeping that staff e in my ears all along that night I decided that that was the main road that could take me straight to the music not only as listener or consumer but as an active player.
Well ,the next morning I started to collect some money to get the horn selling my guitar , some percussion and working in a local pub to raise the sum, it was the far 1987.
So my adventure begun, actually it wasn’t really easy but pretty exiting all along the time I played, Saxophone is by my point of view the most incredible audio-pneumatic-machine.
Somewhere in the 1987 I meet Enzo Nini who was my master-guide. At that time we used to take lessons in a small jazz club every Wednesday afternoon, this place was known as IL CALDERONE. I continued later through private lessons ,however some months later I stopped to practicing with him for professional reason, I was projected in a different dimension for a while becoming a Helicopter pilot right the next year, I had no more opportunity to be constant in the studies as musician.
A couple years later I moved in US for a while , this occasion gave to me the opportunity to explore new fields absorbing a lot of stimuli that contributed not only for my skill as saxophonist but for a further important mental knowledge of what music really is and what it real means , discovering my real nature, my soul as well my latino musical tendency , that formed me later as what I’m now.
I had ,like anyone, different experiences , playing in almost every known dimension, studying with different musicians. In my opinion that is absolutely necessary having the opportunity to experiment sounds, as well as explore even more new "planets" that the ones already known .
For what I know I have been the first guy in 1991 in Italy introducing the saxophone in a discotheque ,improvising and experimenting according with the DJ's music. We called later this show Sax-Live , a kind of live performance improvising on house and other kind of down-beat stuff typical of discothèques planets.
I made my first gig of this kind in Sorrento (Italy) at the "IL Club" a very popular discothèque at the time, I made that experience with a great harmonica player Alfredo Capello who first suggested this idea. I continued do it insisting later in US “1993†and than again from 1997 until 2004 around in Italy. Today I still do perform this show sometimes occasionally in Europe as well in US but basically working with electronic effect and only playing on chill-out music.
IN 1997 I was a member of an Afro-Italian band know as SOUMAYE , becoming later also the singer of the band, in the same period I was performing also with some smooth-jazz band , as well be involved in R&B music with several musicians, in brief a lot of job at that time.
The same year I met Mr KENNETH KELLER , a very interesting trombone player who gave me the opportunity to enjoy with his band called JAZZ ATTACK. Before that , I'd already had experience about soul particularly in U.S. , playing first with the COMPROMISE a jazz-funk band , and later with the CARDINALS some kind of jazz-ska band.
One of the most important experience I deeply absorbed feeling like a sponge talking about music, was playing with two Cuban salsa and latin-jazz band in the horn section , as well as back-ground vocalist. The Cuban experience started first with ANDRES ROMAN Y SU RICA SALSA (1996) , and later with IRINA AROZARENA Y SU CARIBEAN CLUB (1998). They where both impressive and terrific phases of my life , I discovered then the other side on my musical-nature : my latino spirit! ...after all I'm Italian from Neaples, and it is a spontaneous sensitiveness heritage.
From 1998 ahead many other experiences were made with so different bands , most of the time playing in horns section that I’d always loved so much having my own band assembled with the great help of a marvellous drummer Mr PAUL PLUNSKA , the band was known as HORNODROME a funk soul band . Just five guys , me on Tenor and Alto sax, Paul on drums , Mr DAVE BOGART on bass, Mr LORENZO FEDERICI on trumpet which I'd already enjoyed with a lot of gigs before with many other bands and finally Mr RUFUS SPEARMAN on guitar, having all together a lot of pure fun.
This wasn't the lonely occasion of my life since I had a good time playing with other bands , I like to quote the CICCARELLI FAMILY GROOVE , a band very cool ,and later the SOUL TREMORS BAND . This last two experiences were particularly exiting for me as well meet CONSTANTINO MARCUCCI , with who I had a lot of great gigs later. I did experiences also of some kind of what we still call "contamination" , some kind of multi-genres music-program with an experimental band called ANIME PERCUSSIVE ( PERCUSSIVE SOULS) (1999) with the great drummer SERGIO DI NATALE. Playing with these guys was very terrific , we made almost any kind of music, Hispanic, Arabian, African, Ethnic music, New Age , Jazz, Blues, Country, in brief let the audience having a sort of musical-trip around the world. There were many more band to quote as well as singular experiences in the music field but I'm gratefully to them all as well.
Since 2002 I do play basically in a duo band, using high quality digital technologies , experimenting electronic music, and this is due unfortunately to the low cost of clubs budget available even today. In this phase of my professional activity off-course as musician , I made several experiments about sounds and dimensions, I worked for a while using software that allowed me to cut and paste music-loop assembling a back ground that gave me the right groove, moving among funk, hip-hop, chill-out, new-age , and electronics stuff. For a roughly 3 years I played basically in small clubs .
That was the time to play in a parallel project mostly addressed to easy-listening music and fusion , this project was known as SAX's SOUND. Both of these ideas as well as SAX-MOTION project were both exported in Finland in the 2005 winter, having a very cool audience enjoying gigs in several clubs around the country.This is the year since I started to promote seminaries exclusively addressed to Music-interpretation The idea is working since then with both, beginners as well professional musicians ; the seminary is particularly addressed to soloist instruments especially horns , as well singers, it includes also a discussion about contemporary music.In the summer 2007 I decided however to move in some kind of pure acoustic field , experimenting the essence of arrangement , playing pop ,funk, jazz, particularly soul and other kind of genres in other word a lot of music almost disappeared today form the networks.
The current project is known as NOTEinBIANCO&NERO (BLACK&WHITE NOTES) describing the contrast and purity of a sort of black and white musical-picture, no drums or percussions, just an acoustic Piano , a Rodhes and an acoustic Bass ,all of them pure virtual. In this representation the piano represent the wide meddle gray tones , the bass the dark tones: the pure black , and saxophones remark the contour of the picture, even though I add recently a real electric guitar as a focusing deep of field lens. I made the project using high-quality piano and acoustic bass samples to make a kind of new arrangement very wood-like taste, playing all that music coming from the last 40 past years, moving through Pop music, Rock, Country , Blues, Soul , R&B, Funk and many other forms. The artist I like to "play with" are many , I like to quote STEELY DAN BAND, DONALD FAGEN, TOTO, G.BENSON, S.WONDER, A. BAKER, AVERAGE WHITE BAND, B.WHITE, EARTH WIND & FIRE , P.CONTE, P.DANIELE ,TOTO, EAGLES, JAMES TAYLOR, CHICAGO and many more.
One of the most important aspect I like to remark is the formula of my gigs, It's a pleasure having a conversation with the audience about music between one song and the next, having a full contact with the audience , with a good and cool conversation about all the aspect of interest about music like the history of the great artists, or discussing about all the necessary and easy understandable tips to be able to listen and enjoy music in the best possible way, explaining all the interesting aspect of it ,in other words something like learning how to test a good vine , but in musical terms; by the way on the page there are some live recording sessions available related to this last project ,however if you like my stuff and you wish to download my music off-course for free, or you want to know more about me please visit my official site at www.gizio.it ( about music look for MUSIC section once you get in the home page on my official web-site….don’t be afraid about airpace stuff showed on the site ) or click on the web link up on the left in this page, it will be a great honour for me. The project NOTEinBIANCO&NERO (BLACK and WHITE NOTES) was so successful that the last 2007-summer brought me around for a total of 89 gigs from June to August , while in the 2008 summertime I collected 97 dates in the same period of time. Recently I added a further musician with me , a a guitar player , Salvatore Pisano first who accompanied me in most of the 2007 summer-gigs , and more recently Peppe Bruno ,both as rhythm as well lead guitar player all along the 2008 summertime, also we are recording our first NOTEinBIANCO&NERO's CD ,as I already said free-downloading on my official site.
Many other project are in progress , and many are the musicians I had collaboration with like the Brazilian singer Andrè Silva " watch the video" , or the American fellow Javer Anderson in Miami Beach with an acoustic Brazilian project along the 2008 winter.
I will keep all you updated about my projects on this space. ....I want also to tank you all for visit me through my space , and listen my music …and please have fan playing, just do that . Music is the best of the sensation a human mind can be capable to feel and enjoy , no drugs on the Earth has such intense effect on our mind as well as music inside our Soul.
