Neil La Montanara - Drummer

Layout made by Neil La Montanara was born in Conversano (BA) on 28-12-1978. At the age of 11 he approached the drum just for fun. Later, however, he started to study drums seriousely, thus improving his abilities. This allowed him to enter the musical environment and to have his first work expreriences. Still young, he has studied drums having Giuseppe Berlen as a teacher and in 1997 then he attended the course of drums’ instruments at Nino Rota’s School of Music in Monopoli (BA). www.conservatoriodimonopoli.org/After attending this course, in the 2005 he moved to Rome where he has got a specialistic degree in Drums. There he studied with CRISTIANO MICALIZZI (www.cristianomicalizzi.com), ETTORE MANCINI(www.ettoremancini.com) and finally MAURIZIO DEI LAZZARETTI (www.mauriziodeilazzaretti.com.).The clinics of Nile with Italian drummers of great relief and not: (DRUMMERS UNITED) Davide Ragazzoni-Raul . Horacio “el negro”Hernandez, Vinnie Colaiuta, Dave Weckl, Lucrezio De Seta, ElioRivagli, , Virgil Donati, Max Furian, Cristian Meyer. As to the clinic he performed at the Music Village (RM) together with Gregg Bissonette, Gregg says about Neil: 'you are a very skillful and talented drummer' In 2007-2008 he won the 2nd prize at the National Drums Competition. This competion’s perfomances are on dvd ‘Drummer Clip Collection" advertised by Fbt, Pearl e Sabian. Nino gained some teaching experiences in state schools and institutes as well as in public schools. He played with several important musicians such as:“Sunshine” (a gospel band) – “Opera pulcinella “ who won a prize at the’12° Concorso internazionale ed Esecuzione e composizione citta’ di Barletta’) on 23rd March 2003; - “Antonio DaCosta” - “ D.Hernandez Marino” (a trumpeter from Cuba who composed the song “cha cha cha pa’ ti” in the summer Collection 2 of the Wind collection - “ Demolition man” (the POLICE cover band) a trio who is considered the most similar band to the original one in the south of Italy ; “Francis Dixie” undiluted reggae (a singer from Giamaica) - “Vladimir Bill” (a Russian guitarist). He played at several live music concerts with rock bands such as Montescristo and The Scorpions; – “Electro groove” - (funky, dub, rock,) playing a fusion of the electronic sound; “61 Cygni” a pop rock band (who passed the selection at the ‘Festival di San Remo giovani 2006’ with the song ‘Roby’ - “Rhomanife” a band reggae band of the South of Italy.Neil La Montanara played either in Italy or abroad with very important personalities, such as “Alex Milella” who is considered one of the best italian guitarists www.alexmilella.com - Roberto D’Artista, a bluesman, singer and bassist, in the U.S.A. also, he played with Brad Whitford & Tom Hamilton (Aerosmith), Terry Bozzio, and with Andrea Braido in Italy, who recorded a dvd in Ungary (Braido Plays Hendrix) www.myspace.com/robertodartista - “Fulvio Feliciano” a blues-man guitarist. e worked with many blues genre musicians; the last one he cooperated with is Nathaniel Peterson (Twin Dragons), an outstanding and well-known international BluesMan and Kee Marcelo (EUROPE) www.myspace.com/fulviofeliciano – “Sandro Corsi”, a very famous singer and guitarist in the blues-country environment.- “Carvin Jones” : 'In the January 2001 issue of the well-known American monthly magazine 'Guitarist' he has been designed as one of the best ever guitarists.' www.myspace.com/carvinjones www.carvinjones.com Nino has also worked with “Anna Carril Obiols” a charismatic spanish singer; he has sung with the Mano Negra in the album Casa BabilonEspresso dell helio, flor del fango, Jhamila, etc – “Max Tortora”, a well-known TV personality. Neil played in a trio band as an accompaniment for Max in some theatrical performances (Sono fuori di me) www.maxtortora.com - “GROOVEX ", with Mirko Signorile and Luna Ndiaye www.myspace.com/mirkosignorile. ------------------------------------------------------------ ---------------------Neil La Montanara nasce a Conversano (BA), il 28-12-1978, si avvicina alla batteria all’eta’ di 11, per gioco.Dopo pochi anni inizia ha studiare seriamente lo strumento, ad inserirsi nelle formazioni musicali e ad acquisire le prime esperienze lavorative. Da piccolo studia batteria con Giuseppe Berlen, ha frequentato il corso di strumenti a percussioni presso il conservatorio ” Nino Rota” di Monopoli (BA). Si trasferisce a Roma specializzandosi in batteria studiando con CRISTIANO MICALIZZIwww.cristianomicalizzi.com poi con ETTORE MANCINI www.ettoremancini.com ed In fine MAURIZIO DEI LAZZARETTI www.mauriziodeilazzaretti.com. Le clinic di Neil con batteristi di maggior rilievo italiani e non: (DRUMMERS UNITED) Davide Ragazzoni-Raul . Horacio “el negro”Hernandez, Vinnie Colaiuta, Dave Weckl, Lucrezio De Seta, ElioRivagli, Gregg Bissonette, Virgil Donati , Max Furian, Cristian Meyer. Nino si è classificato 2° al concorso nazionale di batteria 2007-2008 dove le performance sono pubblicate su un dvd "drummer Clip Collection" sponsorizzato dalla fbt, pearl e sabian. Ha suonato con diversi gruppi e musicisti: “Sunshine” (gruppo gospel) – “Opera pulcinella “ opera premiata al 12° Concorso internazionale ed Esecuzione e composizione citta’ di Barletta) 23 MARZO 2003 – “Antonio DaCosta” - “ D.Hernandez Marino” (trombettista cubano compositore della canzone “cha cha cha pa’ ti” nella summer Collection 2 della Wind collection - “ Demolition man” (cover band dei POLICE) in trio la cover band del sud italia piu’ simile all’originale… - “ Francis Dixie” undiluted reggae (cantante jamaicano) – “Vladimir Bill” (chitarrista russo, a suonato in diversi live con molti gruppi rock tra cui Montescristo e gli Scorpions) – “Carvin Jones” è nella classifica dei migliori chitarristi di tutti i tempi stilata dall’autorevole mensile americano “Guitarist” nel numero di gennaio 2001 www.myspace.com/carvinjones - “Electro groove” progetto di Nino ,( funky, dub, rock,) con la fusione del sound dell’elettronica “61 Cygni” Band pop rock (con il brano Roby qualificati alla selezione del festival di San Remo giovani 2006) - “Rhomanife” band reggae del sud italia molti i concerti in italia e all’estero – “Alex Milella” considerato uno dei nuovi chitarristi italiani piu talentuosi www.alexmilella.com – “Roberto D’artista” bluesman, cantante bassista, negli U.S.A. ha suonato con Brad Whitford & Tom Hamilton (Aerosmith), Terry Bozzio, e in italia con Andrea Braido, dove ha registrato il dvd in Ungheria (Braido Plays Hendrix) www.myspace.com/robertodartista - “Fulvio Feliciano” chitarrista bues man, diverse le collaborazioni con musicisti blues, tra cui l’ultima con Nathaniel Peterson (Twin Dragons) BluesMan di fama internazionale e Kee Marcelo (EUROPE)www.myspace.com/fulviofeliciano – “Sandro Corsi” chitarrista cantante storico nella scena blues- country collaborato con artisti di fama nazionale, ed internazionale - “Giancarlo Greco” vanta collaborazioni importanti come Tuglio de Piscopo, orchestra Ennio Morricone www.myspace.com/giancarlogreco. “ Anna Carril Obiols” cantante spagnola carismatica, ha cantato con molte band importanti Come i Mano Negra nell’album Casa BabilonEspresso dell helio, flor del fango, Jhamila, ecc – “Max Tortora”, noto personaggio televisivo . Nino ha suonato con un trio Accompagnando Max in alcuni spettacoli teatrali (Sono fuori di me) www.maxtortora.com - “GROOVEX " con Mirko Signorile e Luna Ndiaye. www.myspace.com/mirkosignorile