Intervista con un Musicista - An Interview with a Musician

Ciao a tutti,

I am sure those of you who have been following my blog have come to realize that I am starting to post about interviews that I am conducting for our Filippo and the Chef radio show. There are two reasons in particular. The first is that at the moment we don't have a convenient place on the website to post some of the fun pictures we take during the interviews.

The other reason is because we also don't have a forum on the website that we can talk about some of the fun things that happen on the way to the interview, during the interview, after the interview, etc. Sometimes we mention things on the air during the show, but there is so much going on during the show, from cooking, to "word of the day," and e-mails, and wine drinking, that we can't get around to everything.

So for as long as it serves us, and for as long as you are enjoying it, I will continue to post interview posts, like this one with Italian musician and producer Simone Sello.

It is so funny how life works, when I so wanted an Italian music producer for the two Italian CDs I recorded, I had no idea where to find one, and never did, for either of my CDs, my first or my second. Now that I am thinking about recording an American CD, I not only find Italian producers, but I am friends with them and am interviewing them, no less.

As a matter of fact, when I told Simone that I was in the studio with a producer working on an American song, he wanted to hear it. Of course he does, he has watched and been a part of some of the greatest Italian artists' growth and successes, like Andrea Bocelli, for example.

I met Simone through my friend, composer, singer, songwriter Marco Missinato. He and Simone have been working together for years on Marco's band "Naked Soul," and currently on his Pets Love Music CD series. When I asked him to take a picture of Simone and I they both realized they never had a picture taken of them together, so here they are too, taken in Marco's little home studio. Below is Simone in his bigger home studio.

Simone used to be one of the few and proud musicians that make up the San Remo Festival Orchestra. Winning the San Remo Festival in San Remo, Italy, would be the equivalent of winning a Grammy in the States, only in Italy, they conduct the event like a internationally televised song contest over the course of several days.

After having worked with so many of Italy's greats as well as the greats of the music world all over the world, Simone has some great stories and I thought you would all enjoy hearing them and is the reason why I interviewed him for our show.

Here is a more complete outline of Simone's career, who by the way, arrived at the interview in his sexy little fiat convertible as if he was in Rome, where he is originally from.

He started studying the guitar and the violin when he was about 10, and began his professional career right afterwards. He got to play with many international artists from his country, live and in the studio, and he became the guitar player in the orchestra of the world famous Sanremo Festival for 4 years, having the honor to play with such guests as George Benson, Pat Metheny, Toots Thielemans, Ray Charles, Kenny G, Michael Bolton, Celine Dion, Andrea Bocelli, Laura Pausini , Toto Cutugno, Nek and many others.

Also, he co-arranged and produced the song "Non Ci Sto", which brought the singer Syria to win the contest associated with the Sanremo Festival in 1996.

He currently lives in Los Angeles, where he works as a session guitar player, music producer and expert in computer music, songrwriter, and writes articles for music magazines. Here he has been doing much work, both live and in the studio, with such musicians as Billy Sheehan (bass player with David Lee Roth, Niacin, Mr. Big and solo artist), Aaron Carter and his brother Nick Carter, from Backstreet Boys (both multiplatinum singers), Kevon Edmonds (After7, Baby Face) and Julia Fordham.

He is a member of the electronica-art-rock band project One.O, together with Warren Cuccurullo (Frank Zappa, Missing Persons, Duran Duran)

He is also a recording artist himself, having released his solo CD "Sample This" with Compression Records, as Simonex.

He also works in composing, playing and producing music for TV, movies and sound libraries. He was among the winners of the John Lennon songwriting contest in 2001.

They don't get much better than this. I can say that too because I have had the pleasure to have Simone play guitar for my shows in the past and just listened to him turn a good song into something great. And as a singer, when you are working with someone like him, you inspire each other and the audience feels it too.

Much like the interview actually, I hope you feel it too and you enjoy the clip of one of his compositions we play afterwards.

A presto,

Filippo

P.S. Speaking of Andrea Bocelli, I just realized I have never posted a video of Andrea on my blog, though I have mentioned him. Someone who I have never even mentioned is Zucchero, one of Italy's greatest living pop song writers and singers. What better time to post a video of them than now since Simone has worked with both of them.

So here they are together Andrea and Zucchero on a video I found on Youtube.com singing Zucchero's song "Miserere," live in Italy. If you don't know this song, here's your opportunity to hear it, and if you know it, your opportunity to enjoy it again. (In Italian)

Tony Renis, Cambridge Who's Who, Frommer's 2007 - What Could They Possibly Have In Common?

Ciao a tutti,

A few weeks ago I mentioned on one of the radio episodes of the Filippo and the Chef Show that I had started a blog called "Filippo's Italian-American Experience." Though I had actually started it long time ago, as you all know, I had neglected to mention it on our show. So as I mentioned it I thought about asking the fans and listeners to not only check us out but to feel free to send me pictures and stories that I could include in the blog.

What I thought I was asking was for were pictures of our fans across the Country or the world and their personal Italian-American ot Italian Experiences. What I think everyone understood was that I was looking for pictures and stories about me. I had to laugh as soon after the radio show aired and after we posted the show on our archives on the website www.FilippoandtheChef.com, pictures and stories came on my E-mail and they were all about me.

Okay, it wasn't my intention, but I loved it, mainly for two reasons. First of all, I had never seen some of these pictures so I was happy to see them and have them. Second of all, it dawned on me that I barely had time to post and keep up to date on my blog with my own Italian-American experiences much less taking on other people's experiences. Maybe someday we can have someone working for us dedicated to something like that. It could be a fun thing.

In the meantime, I am happy to post some of the pictures and stories here now and maybe as we go along, on slow news days, he, he, I can post others. The pictures above were sent by an artist, actually a sculpture, who I met at an event, Claudio D'Agostino. The first picture is of the famous Italian songwriter Tony Renis and my friend Marco Missinato, who is well on his way to being famous in his own right at an event in Beverly Hills, CA, probably two years ago or so.

Those of you who are die-hard Italian music fans would know Tony Renis because he wrote songs that include the hits "Quando, Quando, Quando" and "Grande, Grande, Grande" which was translated in English to "Never, Never, Never" and sung by such stars as Celine Dion, Pavarotti and Sergio Franchi. Those of you who don't know those songs will definitely know "The Prayer," which was written by Tony and also sung by Celine Dion, Andrea Boccelli and Josh Groban, to name a few. Incidentally, Renis produced Andrea's last CD.

Funny story about Tony. I was singing at an event several years ago, when my first CD, "Reel Italian - Love Songs From The Silver Screen" had just come out and I was approached by a man who was a good friend of Tony's. The man obviously liked my style and told me that he wanted to give Tony my CD and ask him if he would be interested in working with me. I was honored that this gentleman would care so much and gave him my CD and my contact information. I got a call from this gentleman a few days later and he asked me, if I realized that I had some of Italy's greatest hits on my CD? I of course said yes and that it was my intention to do just that.

He went on to say, "Did you know you left out a really important one?" I wasn't sure what he was getting at. You know how Italian men talk sometimes, you have to get around the story before they get around to telling the story? At any rate, the story was that supposedly Tony never listened to my CD because the man said that Tony took one look at the song list on the back of the CD case and said, "He recorded every Italian hit except 'Quando, Quando, Quando'." At least that is the story I got. Of course, I didn't bother to mention this that night the picture was taken.

The truth is I don't know if I had ever sung that song before then. But I tell you what. I have definitely sung it since, just in case, he, he. Come to think of it, I didn't record it on my second CD either "Love In Italiano," oh well. But I wonder if Celine or Josh ever sang that song, and yet he's working with them, he, he. I am sure our paths will cross again, then I will fill you in. Hey, maybe I should interview him on my show. Maybe I can tell him the story then. What do you think?

The picture below that picture is Claudio, his mother and I at that same event. He also sent along this picture of the sculpture that he was just commissioned to make for Jack Valenti and that was dedicated this past month, I believe, at the AFI, or American Film Institute. Go Claudio, and thank you for the pictures.

Now here are some interesting pictures. I got an E-mail from my friend Rachel who must have heard the "shout out" for pictures and stories and she wrote, "I am sure you already know this but since I have never heard you talk about it or seen it on your blog, I just wanted to make sure."

She goes on to tell me that she is working with a tour group in Italy at the moment and was reading the Frommer's Italy book for 2007, arguably the most popular travel book series covering the whole world, and that I am listed as one of Italy's top singing stars.

I immediately wrote back to her telling her that I had no idea what she was talking about. Since she was in Italy, I had to wait until she not only woke up and got to a computer...augh! But she eventually got back to me and sent me all the info including the page number etc., and here it is. Look at that, pretty cool, huh?

Thank you Frommer and thank you Rachel for bringing it to my attention. Hey maybe this idea of people sending me stories and pictures about me isn't such a bad idea after all otherwise I wouldn't know about half of this stuff.

The exact quote in Frommer's is listed under "Current Music Stars" and I am the first one listed saying "Worthy of the "electric" in his name, Filippo Voltaggio is a high-voltage singer and songwriter who records songs Italians and would-be Italians love to listen to." It's page 70 she said, if you want to check it out, or just click on these pictures to make them larger.

Speaking of being listed, I heard from a fan Jennifer just today that I was either listed or being listed in something, I didn't get it exactly, but I was posting this today and I didn't want to wait. That something is really something, it's the "Cambridge Who's Who," only one of the most prestigious Who's Who around.

I haven't been able to verify this yet but I do know that inclusion in this Registry is considered by many as the single highest mark of achievement. This is supposedly the Executive and Professionals Edition, "Honors Edition" or something like that. Whatever it is, I am honored indeed and I will be looking into it, thank you Jennifer and thank you Cambridge.

My friend Giovanna DiBona who I don't think I have posted anywhere on this blog yet sent me a picture of her and I at the Feast of San Gennaro here in Los Angeles at least two years ago or so. That is Giovanna in her Sicilian costume that she made and wore as part of her act with her band Roman Holiday.

This second picture is Norman Panto, or Nunzio as I used to call him. He and I worked together when I first started singing and I was singing for Italian weddings. Yes, you heard it here first, it's true.

There used to be a joke that musicians used to always say around him. It went something like "Play the accordion, go to jail." Well, Norm has not been to jail, at least not that I know of and certianly not because he has played the accordion.

He has however been on several major commercials and TV shows and the like. So, the joke maybe funny, but Norm pay it no mind and play on.

Finally, Mike Marino, a funny, funny guy, award winning comedian and one of the Three Paisans, sent me this clipping that was written and sent to him by a mutual fan of ours who was in the audience that night of our show at the Catalina Jazz Club.

Evidently, she, Annette Zappia, among other things, writes for this Italian Lodge's paper and wrote about our show. Grazie Annette, this was really fun to read.

I understand they want us to perform for some big event that they are having and I am sure that will be fun. Click on the picture below and it will enlarge the image so you can read it if you are interested.

Grazie a tutti and I hope to post other stories like these as they come in so we can have some fun with them.

A presto,

Filippo

P.S. In my last post I posted a video of Laura Fabian, the French Canadian singer born of a Belgian father and an Italian mother. Well, in keeping with this Italian connection with an international flair, I thought it would be interesting to post this next video.

This is a video of one of Latin America's biggest singing stars, Luis Miguel. A very young Luis Miguel I should say singing at Italy's top music festival, San Remo in 1985. If that isn't an Italian connection, he is singing an Italian song, "Noi Ragazzi Di Oggi." Thanks to Youtube.com. (In Italian)