Friend of a Friend |
Era il 1985 quando Paolo Bonfanti fu contattato per la prima volta da uno dei gruppi di punta del bluegrass europeo, Red Wine, per sostituire temporaneamente un virtuoso della chitarra acustica flatpicking come Beppe Gambetta che nel frattempo aveva intrapreso la carriera solista.
Da allora Paolo Bonfanti e Martino Coppo hanno cominciato a incrociare le proprie strade, a suonare insieme in svariate situazioni fino alla decisione di costituire un duo in cui dare sfogo a tutta la loro poliedricità e varietà di gusti e passioni musicali comuni.
Dopo tanti anni un cd insieme è una conclusione tanto ovvia quanto necessaria per testimoniare questo sodalizio.
It was around 1985 when Paolo Bonfanti was asked for the first time by Red Wine, one of the leading Bluegrass bands in Europe, to temporarily replace acoustic guitar flatpicking virtuoso Beppe Gambetta, who had meanwhile started his solo career.
Since then, Paolo Bonfanti and Martino Coppo began to cross their paths frequently, playing together in many different occasions and ensembles, until they decided to form a duo where to give space to their versatility and variety of common taste and passion for music.
In questo cd brani originali e reinterpretazioni si dividono equamente lo spazio a disposizione: dalla canzone d'autore americana (Neil Young, John Prine e David Wilcox) al bluegrass (il "padre fondatore" Bill Monroe); dal blues (Muddy Waters) al folk e al gospel; dalle suggestioni irlandesi di Matilda's Dance al tributo al grande Bill Monroe nello strumentale WSM (in una versione che si rifà in qualche modo agli Hot Tuna più acustici), dalle ballads d'autore come Friend Of A Friend (la title track) o Trains ad insolite misture tra musica cajun e dialetto genovese come in Via da Zèna.
Tutte le influenze musicali sono ben amalgamate e convergono per dare vita ad un mix estremamente vario ed affascinante.
After so many years together this project is a conclusion as obvious as needed to witness their partnership. Original songs and revisited interpretations equally share the available space on the CD: from covers of American singer-songwriters' pieces (Neil Young, John Prine and David Wilcox) to bluegrass classics (Tennessee Blues), from Blues (Muddy Waters) to Folk and Gospel, from the evocative Irish music atmosphere of ‘Matilda's Dance’ to a tribute to the “Father of Bluegrass” Bill Monroe with the instrumental ‘WSM ‘, here in a more intimate version (which resembles in some way Jorma Kaukonen's Hot Tuna acoustic side), from original ballads like ‘Friend of a Friend’ (the title track) or ‘Trains’ to unusual mixes of Cajun music and Genova's dialect as in ‘Via da Zena.
Paolo’s and Martino’s musical influences are all well mixed and balanced, and converge to give birth to an extremely various and fascinating project.
Paolo Bonfanti & Martino Coppo - Goin Down the Road
Paolo Bonfanti & Martino Coppo - Matilda's Dance
Martino Coppo
Ha iniziato a suonare la chitarra ‘virtuale’ all'età di 5 anni, su una racchetta da tennis, e più seriamente (anche se da autodidatta) all'età di 13 anni, ispirato dal suono acustico di Bob Dylan, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, The Byrds e Joni Mitchell.
Verso la fine degli anni '70 ha scoperto un paio di album: "Will The Circle Be Unbroken" della Nitty Gritty Dirt Band e "When The Storm Is Over" dei New Grass Revival. Ha capito subito che era la musica che voleva suonare! Così ha preso in mano il mandolino (che, anche se molto popolare in Italia, non lo aveva mai realmente attratto) affascinato dal suono di Sam Bush, David Grisman, John Hartford, Norman Blake e Tony Rice.
Tutti questi artisti sono stati una grande ispirazione per intraprendere una sorta di viaggio musicale a ritroso verso le fonti della tradizione Bluegrass, scoprendo ed innamorandosi perdutamente della musica di artisti leggendari quali, tra gli altri, JD Crowe e New South, Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver, The Seldom Scene, The Country Gentlemen, Jimmy Martin, The Stanley Brothers, Flatt & Scruggs e naturalmente Bill Monroe.
Martino starts playing virtual guitar at age 5, on a tennis racket, and more seriously (albeit self-taught) at age 13, inspired by the acoustic sound of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, The Byrds, Bob Dylan, and Joni Mitchell.
Towards the end of the '70s a friend gave him a couple of LP’s: “Uncle Charlie” by the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band and “When The Storm Is Over” by the New Grass Revival.
He immediately knew that was the music he wanted to play. So he picked up the mandolin (which, although very popular in Italy, had never appealed to him before) awestruck by the sound of Sam Bush, David Grisman, John Hartford, Norman Blake and Tony Rice.
All these great artists have been a great inspiration to take up a sort of backwards musical journey towards the sources of traditional Bluegrass, discovering and felling in love hopelessly with the music of legends, among the others, such as J.D. Crowe & New South, Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver, The Seldom Scene, The Country Gentlemen, Jimmy Martin, The Stanley Brothers, Flatt & Scruggs and of course Bill Monroe.
Nel 1981 entra a far parte della Red Wine, la band in cui tuttora suona il mandolino ed è voce solista e con cui inizia a fare concerti in tutta Italia, Europa e, dalla metà degli anni '90, negli Stati Uniti, con diverse partecipazioni a festival in tutto il paese e come IBMA (International Bluegrass Music Association) alle edizioni del WOB (World of Bluegrass) a Owensboro KY (1995), Louisville KY (2001), Nashville TN (2008) e Raleigh (2013).
Ha anche suonato e collaborato giocato con numerosi artisti italiani e americani come Tony Trischka, Peter Rowan, Kathy Kallick, Kathy Chiavola, Russ Barenberg, Jim Hurst, Chris Jones, Barry & Holly Tashian, Niall Toner, Beppe Gambetta, Paolo Bonfanti, Carlo Aonzo, Roberto Della Vecchia, Vittorio De Scalzi, New Trolls e La Rosa Tatuata.
Dal 2008 è membro del Consiglio della EBMA (European Bluegrass Music Association) con incarico di seguire progetti speciali. Attualmente sta lavorando al Bluegrass Pioneer & Personality, un progetto destinato a celebrare e ricordare le persone che hanno originariamente iniziato a diffondere la musica Bluegrass in Europa.
In 1981 he joined the popular Italian bluegrass band Red Wine, where he’s still playing and singing lead vocal, and started touring intensively all over Italy, Europe, and, from the mid-'90s, in the USA, with many appearances at festival and venues all over the country (Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival in San Francisco CA, ROMP Festival in Owensboro KY, Bill Monroe Bluegrass Jamboree at Bean Blossom IN, Walnut Valley Festival a Winfield KS, Chili & Bluegrass Festival a Tulsa OK, Station Inn a Nashville TN, just to name a few) and as a showcasing band at the IBMA World Of Bluegrass in Owensboro KY (1995), Louisville KY (2001), Nashville TN (2008) and more recently Raleigh NC (2013).
He has also been touring and playing with Italian and American artists such as Tony Trischka, Peter Rowan, Kathy Kallick, Chris Jones, Kathy Chiavola, Jim Hurst, Russ Barenberg, Barry & Holly Tashian, Beppe Gambetta, Paolo Bonfanti, Carlo Aonzo, Roberto Della Vecchia, New Trolls, Vittorio De Scalzi e La Rosa Tatuata.
Since 2008 he’s been a mandolin teacher at MinierAcustica music camp in Urbino (Central Italy) and currently serves as a Member of the Board of EBMA (European Bluegrass Music Association) with special assignments, being responsible for the European Bluegrass Pioneers & Personalities project, a sort of European Bluegrass Hall of Honour to acknowledge and celebrate the people who originally started to popularize the music in Europe.
Paolo Bonfanti
L'anno di nascita è il 1960, il luogo è quel porto mercantile ma soprattutto culturale che era ed è Genova. Da una famiglia che può vantare un violoncellista dell'Orchestra della Scala ed uno dei primi batteristi jazz italiani non ci si poteva aspettare altro che un musicista, ed infatti dopo studi di pianoforte e armonia imbraccia nel 1975 la chitarra. Si perfeziona poi con Armando Corsi e Beppe Gambetta, ma l'amore per il Blues è già fortissimo, e proprio alla musica del diavolo consacrerà la sua tesi di laurea al DAMS di Bologna, frequentando nel frattempo anche un corso al prestigioso Berklee College of Music di Boston.
Dal 1985 al 1990 front man dei BIG FAT MAMA, una delle più importanti rock-blues bands italiane, con cui incide tre LP (di cui uno doppio dal vivo), suona in tutti i principali festival della penisola e apre i concerti di alcune leggende del blues e del rock (tra cui Los Lobos, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Johnny Winter, Pogues).
Dal 1990 al 1992 suona con alcuni “miti” del Blues inglese come il sassofonista Dick Heckstall-Smith (Colosseum, J. Mayall) e Mickey Waller (J. Beck, Rod Stewart) nel gruppo DOWNTOWN.
Born in Genova, Italy (Nov. 15th, 1960). He began to play guitar in 1975 after studying music theory, harmony and piano. In the early 80s he attended master classes with Armando Corsi and Beppe Gambetta. In 1986 he attended a summer course at Berklee College of Music in Boston. Graduated in music semiotics at University of Bologna, Italy in 1996.
From 1985 to 1990 he has been leading Big Fat Mama, one of the most important rock-blues bands in Italy, with whom recorded 3 LPs, played top clubs and festivals, appeared on several Tv programs (local and nationwide broadcasting), worked with several american blues players touring Italy.
He is co-founding member of Downtown, together with legends of the British blues such as sax player Dick Heckstall-Smith (Colosseum, Alexis Corner, John Mayall), drummer Mickey Waller (Jeff Beck, Ron Wood, Rod Stewart) and bass player Bob Brunning (Savoy Brown). The band split in 1991 after touring extensively.He is currently playing with his own band, as a soloist, with Red Wine (one of the most important bluegrass bands in Europe, with whom he played the Winfield Acoustic Music Festival in Kansas), with Beppe Gambetta (summer 1992 European tour with Gene Parson, Byrds' legendary drummer; Blues to Bop Festival in Lugano, Switzerland with Steve Kaufman, broadcast by Swiss National TV) and with Fabio Treves ("father" of Italian blues scene, opening for Junior Wells, ZZ TOP, appearances on national Tv networks).
Continua l’attività concertistica con la propria band e in solo in tutta Europa e negli Stati Uniti; registra 11 cd a proprio nome (l’ultimo “Exile on Backstreets” è del 2013), collabora con alcuni tra i migliori musicisti rock-blues come Roy Rogers (produttore di J. Lee Hooker) e John Popper (armonica dei Blues Traveler), nonchè con Fabio Treves (per cui ha curato la produzione artistica di due cd) e Beppe Gambetta (con cui ha scritto un metodo per chitarra country-rock).
Dal 2003 suona con SLOWFEET, una super-band che vede impegnati alcuni grandi del rock italiano come Franz Di Cioccio, Lucio Fabbri (PFM). Con loro ha registrato nel 2007 il cd “Elephant Memory”.
Nel 2011 pubblica il manuale (con CD) "Bottleneck Guitar" per fingerpicking.net/Carisch e
nel 2013 esce il manuale (con DVD) "La Chitarra Elettrica secondo Bonfanti", sempre per fingerpicking.net.
He published a country-rock guitar method (with Beppe Gambetta), a bottleneck/slide guitar handbook (2011), an electric guitar instructional dvd and book (2013), wrote articles for several italian music magazines and produced and played (live and on CD) with some of the most exciting bands in Italy. He is also teaching and doing workshops all over the country. In march 1994 played South By Southwest festival in Austin, Texas (only italian artist at the event).
Since 1992 he has published 10 cds (the last one, EXILE ON BACKSTREETS, in 2013). During the promotional tour of the “Gamblers” cd in 2003, written together with singer/songwriter JONO MANSON, the great BLUES TRAVELER’s harmonica player/singer JOHN POPPER joined the band for some gigs.
Since 2002 he has been backing ROY ROGERS (master of slide guitar and musician/producer for JOHN LEE HOOKER) several times during his Italian tours. He is founding member of SLOW FEET, a super band conceived by photographer/bass player REINHOLD KOHL, together with some Italian Rock legends such as FRANZ DI CIOCCIO and LUCIO FABBRI (PFM); their first cd, “Elephant Memory” has been issued in 2007. Another longtime collaboration is with american bass player/singer/songwriter David James with whom also recorded the cd "Purple House" (2011).
www.paolobonfanti.it
www.youtube.com/bonfantipaolo
fotografie: Stefano Goldberg
video: Ivano A. Antonazzo
www.aivano.it