Angeli, Paulo

Tessuti (music by Bjork, and Fred Frith)

Label: Recommended Records Country: UK

"Another extraordinary release by Sardinian virtuoso Paolo Angeli, this time featuring compositions by Fred Frith and Bjork - all played solo in real time (though when you hear it, it's hard to believe it) on his highly customised and extended, electrified, giant Sardinian folk guitar. A tour de force of technique and at the same time highly musical; and there is so much going on here at any given time that it is difficult to relate what your ears tell you to just one Frankenstein instrument. Dense enough that it rewards listening to a few songs at a time, though you could probably also dance to it.

This is Paulo's 3rd release for ReR; the first introduced his remarkable instrument and more remarkable technique, the second was of closely scored very large ensemble works; here he returns to the guitar but under the discipline of the real-time realisation of written and arranged compositions.

Paolo Angeli learned to play guitar from his father when he was still a small child. He later abandoned an intended career in the merchant marine when he moved to Bologna in 1989, and joined the legendary Laboratorio di Musica & Imagina group. He played many international festivals with the group, as well as in various ensembles with such well known improvisers as Fred Frith, Jon Rose, Butch Morris and Eva Kant. He has studied with the father figure of Sardinian guitar, Giovanni Scanu, and has worked compiling the music library for Sardinia's Regional Institute for Ethnic Studies. He now works as artistic director of the Isole che Parlano arts festival in Sardinia. His work appears on many CDs, including Pacifica with Fred Frith on the Tzadik label, and Linee di fuga on the Erosha label."-ReR Megacorp