THE TWO WORLDS OF RAPHAEL GUALAZZI

band

chorister Bene Maillot

chorister Lisa Griset

chorister Sophie Afoy

sax Julien Duchet

trombone Damien Verherve

trumpet Luigi Faggi

guitar Laurent Miqueu

bass, double bass Emah Otu

drums Massimiliano Castri

production

production manager Salvatore Russo

tour manager Sara Contavalli

driver artist Paolo Mariani

driver band Fabrizio Ibba

crew

lighting designer Paolo Fossataro

house monitor engineer Daniele Rossi

stage monitor engineer Stefano Luciani

lighting operator Fabio Quarchioni

lighting assistant Nunzio D’Ignazio

PA manager Simone Saccomandi

stage assistant Pier Luigi Tiberi

trucker Michele Cordisco

Sugar

President Caterina Caselli

Chairman & CEO Filippo Sugar

General Manager Andrea Cotromano

Director artist project development Cristina Scaglia

International department Francesco Pasquero

Promotion manager Simona Lombardi

Manager artist production development Roberto Gentileschi

management Nicoletta Zagone Insieme srl

Just me office contact

agent Massimo Levantini

agent Gaetano Puglisi

account Monica Bianchi

booking & promo

press office Letizia D’Amato srl

The Two Worlds Raphael Gualazzi will be filmed by Sky TV

thanks to Angelo Fabbrini Pianoforti - Pescara for the invaluable support

Raphael Gualazzi is back performing live in a show dedicated to the Festival of Two Worlds of Spoleto, bringing his unique sound on stage with unpublished songs from the last disc Happy Mistake, published for Sugar, along with a few surprises.

His musical passions, that take shape during the concerts, make him an artist to be discovered especially in live dimensions, with a strong international vocation: in addition to jazz and blues, Raphael loves to propose 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 by 9 musicians, 7 of them French including 3 choristers, in a dynamic and multi-faceted performance that alternates suggestive atmospheres with moments of intense and overwhelming energy.

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

Raphael Gualazzi was born in Urbino on November 11, 1981. After his piano studies at the Rossini Conservatory in Pesaro he extends his musical research also into the field of Jazz, Blues and Fusion. Enough to create a personal style that blends the ragtime technique of the early 1900s with the typical sound of the pre-jazz and stride-piano, without neglecting the most innovative influences of eclectic artists on the contemporary scene, such as Jamiroquai and Ben Harper. In 2005, with his first engagements in renowned festivals such as Fano Jazz, the Java Festival of Jakarta, Argo Jazz and Ravello International Festival, he is immediately accredited among the best artists of the contemporary Italian jazz scene. While 2008 is the year in which his reinterpretation of "Georgia on my mind" becomes part of the compilation "Piano Jazz" next to names like Nora Jones, Diana Krall, Duke Allington and Ray Charles.

In September 2009 he meets Caterina Caselli and signs a record deal with Sugar. The opportunity to make himself known immediately by the general public is offered by an interpretation of the cover of "Don’t stop", the success of the 70s by Fleetwood Mac, which is chosen as the soundtrack of the TV commercial for eni. The step to the publication of the first digital EP "Raphael Gualazzi" (2010) is short and the conquest of the first places in the iTunes chart is immediate. At the same time Gualazzi’s name begins to make its way abroad thanks to the song "Reality and Fantasy" which, in the remix version of Gilles Peterson, joins the compilations Nova Tunes 2.2 and Hotel Costes, first in the charts of digital sales around the world, and conquers the air play of some of the most important French networks. The success on the other side of the Alps leads him to perform, in the same year, at the Louvre to later debut at the Sunside Club of 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 racks up awards: besides winning first place in the Youth category, he also wins the Critics Prize "Mia Martini", the prize of the Radio and TV Press, the Assomusica Prize for the best live performance and the SIAE Award as the best composer of the year. The song, written, produced and arranged by the same Gualazzi is contained in "Reality and Fantasy", his homonymous debut album which came out on February 16. At the same time the English version of the song "Follia d’amore" was inserted in the soundtrack of "Manuale d’amore 3", the film directed by Giovanni Veronesi, and starring among others, Robert De Niro and Monica Bellucci.

After the triumph of Sanremo, Gualazzi participates in the Eurovision Song Contest in Düsseldorf, where he is classified second place, winning also the first prize of the technical jury. During the summer, he gathers more than 35,000 spectators on a tour of 40 dates, many of which sold out, in the most beautiful Italian arenas and amphitheaters To seal the success of the album "Reality and Fantasy", on October 18th a "Special Edition" comes out containing some unpublished pieces in the audio and the DVD "Live Documentary" that collects images of the concert at the Cavea Auditorium Parco della Musica of Rome. In June 2012, another important international recognition arrives: to consolidate his recording project, Sugar signs an exclusive worldwide agreement with the prestigious label Blue Note / Emi Music France, which in the world has launched the likes of Norah Jones, Herbie Hankcock, St. Germain and many others. Meanwhile, the success also expands to Germany, where in the spring of this year the historic WDR Symphony Orchestra of Cologne dedicates a tribute to the young artist, performing live on national radio along with his repertoire with covers of classic jazz tunes. But the real consecration across national boundaries takes place at the first International Jazz Day held on April 27 at the UNESCO headquarters in Paris, where the Italian pianist and composer makes his official entrance into the élite world of jazz music with his opening concert to celebrate the day desired by Herbie Hancock in the UNESCO headquarters in Paris.

On February 14, 2013 the new album "Happy Mistake" came out, while Raphael Gualazzi was back on the Sanremo Festival stage, this time in the Big category, with the songs "Sai" and " Senza Ritegno".

The two tracks are part of "Happy Mistake", which contains thirteen songs that are outside the norms and surprise the listener, amongst soul, gospel, country, blues, rock, and the inevitable jazz and changing from English, to Italian to French. A work for which Raphael himself is the author, composer, arranger and producer.

In "Happy Mistake" Gualazzi does duets with the creativity of the Puppini Sisters, the delicacy of Camille and collaborates with the musical dexterity of Vince Mendoza and Fabrizio Bosso again. But the album also contains a surprising homage to Giuseppe Verdi and Nino Rota.

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

The artist was on stage with a brand new team consisting of 9 players, 7 of them French (including 3 singers), and presented a dynamic and multi-faceted performance that alternated a suggestive atmosphere to moments of intense and overwhelming energy. The evening, which was sold out and ended with a standing ovation, was also an opportunity for Raphael to present his new project in France.

"Happy Mistake" went beyond the Alps on April 2 and, after the success of sales in Italy, immediately also climbed the French digital charts, being in the top 20 of iTunes France, and conquering the jazz section with 4 pieces out of 10 in the sections of jazz singles, and being the third among the albums.

The "Happy Mistake Tour" arrived in Italy on April 6, 2013. The departure was from Senigallia, in the Marche. The tour is stirring up the stages of theaters in the major Italian cities.