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GUITAR WIZARDRY ON ANOTHER LEVELWhatever you want to call it, nobody else is doing it quite like this.
Paolo Angeli, the Sardinian sorcerer, manually magics beautiful, multi-layered music from his uniquely prepared guitar: a hybrid orchestra of an instrument with strings going in all directions, foot-pedal-controlled motorised propellers, hammers to create shimmering drones, and bass-lines as he bows, strikes, plucks and strums while producing rhythmic atmospherics by treading on a plastic bag and adjusting tunings on the fly.
Electronic effects are utilized but no loops. With this singular instrument he improvises and composes unclassifiable music — suspended between the traditional music of Sardinia, free jazz, flamenco, arabesques, post-folk and pre-everything else.
“PAOLO ANGELI HAS DEVELOPED A SIGNIFICANT NEW DIRECTION FOR THE GUITAR.” — PAT METHENY
Born in 1970 in an extremely stimulating musical environment, Paolo Angeli grew up in Palau, a small port in northern Sardinia, which looks out on the twelve islands of the Maddalena archipelago, a rugged scenic area of turquoise lagoons, national parks and pristine beaches.
Paolo started to play guitar when he was nine. The guitar and the voice of his father (his first mentor), the rock bands of the village, his experience at concerts in village squares, and carnival evenings, all pointed him in a direction that eschewed stylistic barriers in music.
In 1989, he moved to Bologna and started to play with various contemporary music ensembles, practicing collective composition and improvisation, breaking down the borders between musical genres, and playing in the main European festivals of innovative music. In 1993, he met Giovanni Scanu, a legendary Sardinian guitar player who died at the age of 95. Giovanni taught him the forms and the components of the canto a chitarra gallurese e logudorese, old songs in the Sardinian dialects of Gallurese and Logudorese, traditionally accompanied by guitar.
From this clash between avant-garde and popular tradition came his Sardinian prepared-guitar: a unique instrument with 25 strings-a hybrid between baritone guitar, cello and drums, replete with hammers, pedals, and variable pitch propellers.
He has collaborated with Pat Metheny (who uses Angeli's guitar in Orchestrion), Fred Frith, Hamid Drake, Iva Bittova, Butch Morris, Ned Rothenberg, Jon Rose, Antonello Salis, Evan Parker, Takumi Fukushima, Louis Sclavis, and Paolo Fresu, among others.
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We’re thrilled to have guitarist Nathaniel Braddock joining us to kick off the evening. His repertoire draws deeply from the well of African music — he has collaborated with Ghanaian, Zambian, Ugandan, Malian, and Congolese musicians including the great Samba Mapangala and members of Ghana’s acclaimed Western Diamonds. Originally from Chicago, he performed often with Makaya McCraven and Junius Paul. He last played for us in the early Collider days with his soukous dance project Air Congo and we’re psyched to have him back.
DOORS: 7PM
SHOW: 8PM
TICKETS: $22 ADV / $25 DOOR
ALL AGES
This show will be seated. You are encouraged to arrive early for the best seats.
TICKETS: https://www.tickettailor.com/events/secretplanet/1554876
SECRET PLANET MEMBER RSVP: www.secretplanet.live/paolo#rsvp
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Event Venue & Nearby Stays
TheDrake, 18 N Pleasant St, Amherst, MA 01002-1703, United States,Amherst, Massachusetts
Tickets
