L'Italo-Americano

NEWS & FEATURES TOP STORIES PEOPLE EVENTS THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2017 www.italoamericano.org 3 Before embarking in a suc- cessful musical career, you fol- lowed your passion for animals and enrolled in Veterinary Medicine. When an American fellow student taught you the basics of guitar playing, you dropped out of university to become a professional musi- cian. I was born in Roncocesi, a small village nearby Reggio Emilia (city in the Emilia- Romagna region), from parents who worked as farmers. I grew up surrounded by nature and animals, so, after high school, when I had to decide what to do next, I opted for vet- erinary medicine at the universi- ty of Bologna. In those years, the 70s, I used to listen to a lot of music, espe- cially Afro-American, that came as a breath of fresh air to Italy's musical landscape. As I was still studying at uni- versity, I formed several bands and started playing this type of music around various venues. I found a record label offering me a contract, under which I would have had to sing in the tradition of Italy's bel canto. That didn't reflect my artistic aspirations, so, upon dropping out of university, I decided to follow my fascination towards soul and blues and go to the States. In 1984, I flew to San Francisco, where a guitarist native of Naples, Italy, Corrado Rustici – who could boast inter- national collaborations with such names as Aretha Franklin and Marvin Gaye – produced my first successful album, Zucchero and the Randy Jackson Band. That marked the beginning of a long and productive professional col- laboration with the guitarist-pro- ducer. In April 1988, you recorded a new version of Dune Mosse (originally released in your fourth album, Blue's) with jazz legend, Miles Davis. How was the experience of playing along- side such a musical genius? It was an incredible and unex- pected experience, occurred dur- ing a vacation with my wife, fol- lowing the release of my album, Blue's (that contained the song, Dune Mosse). Miles Davis was then touring around Italy. After a concert, he and his Italian promoter were having dinner at a restaurant. As my song played on the radio, the jazz legend asked who was the singer. The promoter replied that the up-and-coming Italian artist was Zucchero. Davis immediately expressed his wish to play Dune Mosse In 1988, Zucchero recorded a new version of Dune Mosse with jazz legend Miles Davis "Miles Davis urged me to keep singing in Italian" with me. I was with my wife in the Maldives and it was in the dead of night, when I received a phone call, with the offer of recording the song with him in New York City. Initially, I thought it was just a joke. Then, I realized how Miles Davis really wanted to Continued from page 1 Continued to page 4

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