John De Leo

“The first time you listen to a John De Leo song, it’s like a musical big bang. All the familiar notes and chords are there, but they’ve been burst and scattered all over the place, in unpredictable directions – and the sonic landscape you behold is at once recognizable and completely new. You are alone on an alien planet, left to your own resources, with only the weirdest, most distinctive and most powerful singing voice you’ve ever heard to lead the way. And whether you find your bearings or not in the end, the experience itself is not likely to be one you’ll ever forget.
 As a singer, John De Leo is up there, in a different galaxy and on an orbit of its own, alongside the likes of Nina Simone, Demetrio Stratos, Robert Plant, Diamanda Galás and a few other artists of varying musical provenance. John’s voice so dominates his creative personality, in fact, that he does everything with and through it: he sings, he plays the parts normally reserved for other instruments, and he writes his own songs around his melodic intuitions. His music always appears to have grown out of his voice, as if it was a tree made of chiming, jarring, antigravitational notes.
 Of course the big-bang effect and the alien tree both last as long as the song is there – as the last harmonious or bellowing cry is sounded, all the terrestrial musical particles fall back into place and the alien tree is shattered by its own impossibility. But when the end comes, you will want to see it again: and luckily enough, there are lots of places you can go to if you want more of the same. For you can listen to De Leo’s own songs, to his work with former band Quintorigo, or to his numerous collaborations with jazz, rock and experimental artists from all over the world – and it always happens. You’re on De Leo’s planet, and none of the customary rules apply”.
(Massimiliano Morini)

Singer-songwriter and performer. Born 27 May 1970 in Lugo, near Ravenna, John De Leo is universally hailed as Italy’s most interesting singer. His voice also functions as an instrument, sounding by turns deep and warm or high-pitched and biting. His singing style has soul roots, but the branches of his performances reach out into Jazz, Rock, Dub and Experimental territory. Some useful keywords for unlocking his aesthetics are: De-functionalize, Re-functionalize, Arrangement, Blues, Experimentation, Interplay, Sound, Word, Polysemy, Curiosity.

His many projects and collaborations, from the early 1990s onwards, have ranged from music to other forms of artistic expression: he has worked with Rita Marcotulli, Teresa De Sio and Metissage, Ambrogio Sparagna, Paolo Damiani, Stefano Benni, Banco del Mutuo Soccorso, Carlo Lucarelli, Stefano Bollani, the Paolo Fresu Quintet, Danilo Rea, Furio Di Castri, Roberto Gatto, Franco Battiato, Enrico Rava, Carmen Consoli, Mederic Collignon, Ivano Fossati, Antonello Salis, Alterego e Louis Andriessen, Nguyen Le, Gianluca Petrella, GianLuigi Trovesi, Alessandro Bergonzoni, Maurizio Gianmarco, Fabrizio Bosso, Trilok Gurtu, Stewart Copeland and Uri Caine. He also co-founded the ensemble Quintorigo, whose frontman he was from 1992 to 2004.

John De Leo’s debut solo album, Vago Svanendo (Carosello 2008), produced by Adele Di Palma, was selected for the Critics’ Award of the Italian musical magazine Musica e Dischi.
Vago Svanendo was presented live in the following venues and on the following occasions: Festival Eurosonic 2008 (Grand Theatre Up, Groeningen, the Netherlands), La Milanesiana 2008, Blue Note (Milan), XX Festival of Villa Arconati, Casa del Jazz (Rome), Udine Jazz Festival 2008, Upstairs at the Garage (London), Piola Libri (Bruxelles), International Festival of Jazz 2009 (Roccella Jonica), La Milanesiana 2009, Festival La Città Aromatica (Siena), Joung Jazz Festival 2010, Wo