I DUE MONDI DI RAPHAEL GUALAZZI

Eni presents Raphael Gualazzi, who returns to performing live, in a show dedicated to Festival dei Due Mondi in Spoleto, bringing his unmistakable sound to the stage with songs from his latest unreleased album Happy Mistake, released for Sugar, and some surprises.

His musical passions, which take shape in concerts, make him an artist from discover especially in the live dimension, with a strongly international vocation: in addition to jazz and blues, Raphael likes to offer forays into gospel and soul, country and rock, with a tribute to the classics, from Verdi to Fellini's Nino Rota. On stage he is accompanied from 9 musicians, 7 of them French including 3 female choristers, in a dynamic and multifaceted show that alternates evocative atmospheres to moments of intense and overwhelming energy.

Raphael Gualazzi, thoughtful and at the same time passionate, shy but irrepressible, is among the purest talents on the music scene in recent years: a true "music craftsman" with a visceral love for jazz and blues.

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RAPHAEL GUALAZZI

Raphael Gualazzi was born in Urbino on November 11, 1981. After undertaking piano studies at the Rossini Conservatory in Pesaro, he extends his musical research also in the fields of Jazz, Blues and Fusion. So from arrive to create a very personal style that blends the Rag-time technique of the early 1900s with the typical sounds of pre-jazz and stride-piano, without neglecting the most innovative influences of eclectic artists of the contemporary scene, such as Jamiroquai and Ben Harper. In 2005, his first appearances to renowned festivals such as Fano Jazz, Java Festival in Jakarta, Argo Jazz and Ravello International Festival, immediately accredited him among the best artists of the contemporary Italian jazz scene. While 2008 is the year when his rendition of "Georgia on my mind" enters to part of the "Piano Jazz" compilation alongside to names such as Nora Jones, Diana Krall, Duke Allington and Ray Charles.

In September 2009 he met Caterina Caselli and signed a recording contract with Sugar. The opportunity to make himself immediately known to the general public is offered by the interpretation of the cover of "Don't Stop," the 1970s hit by Fleetwood Mac, which is chosen as the soundtrack of the eni television commercial. The step to the release of the first digital EP "Raphael Gualazzi" (2010) is short and the conquest of the top spots on the iTunes charts immediate. At the same time, Gualazzi's name begins to to make its way abroad thanks to the song "Reality and Fantasy" which, in the remix version by Gilles Peterson, enters to the Nova Tunes 2.2 and Hotel Costes compilations, first in the digital sales charts around the world, and conquers the air play of some of the most important French networks. His transalpine success led him to perform that same year at the Louvre and then debut at the Sunside Club in Paris, the French temple of jazz music. 2011 is the year of his triumphant participation in the Sanremo Festival with the song "Follia d'amore," where he rakes in the awards, winning in addition to first place in the Giovani category, the "Mia Martini" Critics' Award, the Press Area Radio and TV Award, the Assomusica Award for best live performance and the Siae Award as best composer of the year. The song, written, produced and arranged by Gualazzi himself, is contained in "Reality and Fantasy," his eponymous debut album due out Feb. 16. In the same period, the English version of the song "Follia d'amore" is included in the soundtrack of "Manuale d'amore 3," the film directed by Giovanni Veronesi and starring, among others, from Robert De Niro and Monica Bellucci.

After the San Remo triumph, Gualazzi participates in the Eurovision Song Contest to Düsseldorf where he comes second, also winning the first prize of the technical jury. During the summer, he gathers more than 35 thousand spectators in a tour of about 40 dates, many of them sold out, in the most beautiful Italian arenas and amphitheaters. to seal the success of the album "Reality and Fantasy", on October 18 comes out a "Special Edition" containing some unreleased tracks in the audio part and the DVD "Live Documentary "that collects the images of the concert at the Cavea of the Auditorium Parco della Musica in Rome. In June 2012 comes another important international recognition: to consolidate its recording project, Sugar signs a worldwide exclusive agreement with the prestigious Blue Note/Emi Music France label that has launched the world the likes of Norah Jones, Herbie Hankcock, St. Germain and many others. Meanwhile, success also spread to Germany, where in the spring of this year the historic WDR Symphony Orchestra in Cologne dedicated a tribute to the young artist, performing his repertoire live on national radio along with to covers of classic jazz songs. But the real consecration beyond national borders takes place on the occasion of the first International Jazz Day held last April 27 at the UNESCO headquarters in Paris, where the Italian pianist and composer officially makes his entrance into the world Olympus of jazz music by opening with one of his concerts the celebratory day wanted from Herbie Hancock in the UNESCO headquarters to Paris.

On February 14, 2013, the new album "Happy Mistake" is released, while Raphael Gualazzi returns to tread the stage of the Sanremo Festival, this time in the Big category, with the songs "Sai" and " Senza Ritegno."

The two tracks are part of "Happy Mistake," which contains thirteen tracks that break the mold and disorient the listener, between soul, gospel, country, blues, rock and the ever-present jazz, moving from English to Italian to French. A work of which Raphael himself is the author, composer, arranger and producer.

In "Happy Mistake," Gualazzi duets with the flair of the Puppini Sisters, the delicacy of Camille and returns to collaborating with the musical dexterity of Vince Mendoza and Fabrizio Bosso. But the album also features surprising tributes to Giuseppe Verdi and Nino Rota.

On March 28, 2013, after his public and critical success at the Sanremo Festival, where he came fifth, Raphael opened the "Happy Mistake Tour" from the Café de la Danse in Paris.

The artist takes the stage with an unprecedented lineup of from 9 musicians, 7 of them French (including 3 female backing vocalists), and presents a dynamic and multifaceted show that alternates evocative atmospheres to moments of intense and overwhelming energy. The evening, which is sold out and closes with a standing ovation, is also an opportunity for Raphael to present his new project in France.

"Happy Mistake" was released transalpine on April 2 and, after its sales success in Italy, it immediately climbed the French digital charts as well, placing in the Top20 of iTunes France, and conquered the jazz section with no less than 4 out of 10 songs in the jazz singles section, achieving third among albums.

The "Happy Mistake Tour" comes to Italy on April 6, 2013. The Italian start is from Senigallia, in the Marche region of Italy. The tour is setting the stages of theaters in major Italian cities ablaze.

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