I was born in Voghera, a small town in the north of Italy, on the 29th of November 1951. I started out playing drums with local bands when I was 14 years old. My first record release came along in 1969 with a band called Bloody Fire, a 45 single, entitled ‘Life’, which eventually sold 50.000 copies. Not bad for a first shot! Well, that gave me the taste and also opened the door for me to session work because shortly afterwards I began playing on the records of singers and artists who were signed to the Memories record label and who recorded in the company’s studio, ‘Real Music’, in Italy. I played sessions from ’71 to ’76 and then I started playing professionally around Europe, ending up in Switzerland, where I still live and work.Well, that’s all going way back and since then I have played with bands, professionally and non, all over Europe but I’m still eager to learn and my musical curiosity hasn’t diminished. These past few years my time and efforts have been dedicated to the study of all kinds of percussion instruments. In 1990 I took part in a jazz seminar that was held in Genova, Italy called ‘We Love Jazz’, presided over by Joe Chambers and the following year I attended the ‘Academy of Music’ under the direction of Skip Hadden.In ’93, together with Dave Baker, a Brit Blues Belter who was working the blues scene in and around Milan in Italy, I became a founding member of Dave Baker & Motivator, one of the first blues bands to be based and work out of the Italian speaking canton of Tessin in the deep south of Switzerland. An album was cut toward the end of the same year which featured along with the band well known blues luminaries Andy J. Forest on blues harp, Ronnie Jackson on guitar and ace slide player Claudio Bazzari. The cd, titled “Rock’n’Blues…That’s Where I Come From†was released through the Swiss company Brambus Records.In ’95 I was in Cuba with Paolo Wolf, a Swiss singer-songwriter, an experience that enriched and expanded my musical horizons. Two years later, in May ’97, I also took part in Paolo Wolf’s record tribute to Ernesto ‘Che’ Guevara, in commemoration of the thirtieth anniversary of his death.With Gianni Cipolletti’s ‘Blues Feeling’ I had another encounter with the blues and I held the drum chair in his band for four years during which time we played over 200 live dates in clubs and at international blues festivals.Along the way I’ve clocked up lots of experience in many kinds of musical settings. A lengthy stint with singer-composer Chiara Sgherbini for example produced a very busy and intense time of concert activity whilst an entirely different project that I was involved in, put together by Fiorenzo Bernasconi, featured the poetry and art work of Luciano Lutrin. In 2003 I was a member of the jazz fusion band Easy Jam Group, that played the international ‘Estival Jazz event in Lugano and I also played a tour with Swedish pop band “Mad Max†who achieved international record success in the 80’s with a string of hits.At the moment I’m involved in a number of projects. I play on a regular basis with Marco Zappa, www.marcozappa.ch a highly rated and well established guitarist in Italy and Switzerland and just recently I’m “back in the bluesâ€, with singer guitarist Marco Marchi and his Way-out Blues Band. This second outfit is rapidly making a name for itself among blues fans and players alike thanks to frontman Marco Marchi’s intense guitar work and vocals. I was back in the studio recently, to cut some demo tracks with them of re-arranged blues standards that we play on our club gigs. The sessions turned out really well, capturing the power and feel of the band’s live performances with the result that quite a ‘buzz’ is going around about us now. So, let’s see what happens but whatever comes along, I’ll be ready and willing to take up the challenge of any new musical experience or adventure that presents itself.Over the years my involvment in music, all kinds of music -rock, jazz, blues, pop, latin and latin jazz- has become deeper and deeper but the defining factor of my musical style and character has always been forged, and still is, in the ‘live’ dimension of musical expression and performance.
