Renato Vecchio – Medwind (FM Records, 2016)
Italian wind instrument virtuoso explores the musical instruments and sounds of the globe with a set of self-penned compositions. Armed with a wide-range of flutes, horns and other wind instruments, Renato Vecchio delivers a mix of beautiful meditative pieces and lively tunes. On the uptempo material Vecchio injects irresistible folk-rock and ethnic beats as well as jazz; all of them inspired by the traditional musics of Italy and other parts of the world.
The lineup on Medwind includes Renato Vecchio on soprano sax, tenor sax, Armenian duduk, ciaramella (an Italian double-reed instrument, similar to an oboe), Indian punji, Mexican flute, mancusedda (ancient Italian flute), bagpipes, and various other flutes; Michele Simoncini on keyboards and loops; Marco Siniscalco on bass; Giuseppe Tortora on cello; Dario Giuffrida on drums, percussion; Adolfo Valeri on darbuka; Nora Tigges on vocals; Ahmen Benbali on vocals; Sanjay Kansa Banik on tabla; Kicco Careddu on drums and percussion; Upapadia on tamburello; and Ayu Sakurai on violin.
Renato Vecchio was born in the province of Lecce. He began studying music at 10 and performed in local bands. At a young age, he moved to Rome where he studied jazz and the art of improvisation.
Vecchio later moved to Perugia, where he graduated in saxophone, with honors, at the Francesco Morlacchi Music Conservatory. In Perugia he worked with various local bands, performing throughout Italy.
He moved back to Rome, where he participated in pop, jazz and word music projects, working as a session musician and in theater and television.
Renato Vecchio’s discography includes “Ethno med Musik”, with Fabrizio Cesare (FM Records, 2014), “Classical Christmas” with Andrea Montepaone (Pauline Editions, 2015), “Music sin palabras”, with Rumba de Mar(Barvin music publishing, 2015), “Made in Italy”, with Claudio Scozzafava (FM Records, 2015), “War and History”, with Andrea Montepaone (FM Records, 2015) and “Hemispheres” (Tourbilion, 2016).
Medwind is a splendid album featuring gorgeous wind melodies and infectious rhythms.
Buy the Medwind CD
Buy the Medwind digital download
Author: Angel Romero
Angel Romero y Ruiz has dedicated his life to musical exploration. His efforts included the creation of two online portals, worldmusiccentral.org and musicasdelmundo.com. In addition, Angel is the co-founder of the Transglobal World Music Chart, a panel of world music DJs and writers that celebrates global sounds. Furthermore, he delved into the record business, producing world music studio albums and compilations. His works have appeared on Alula Records, Ellipsis Arts, Indígena Records and Music of the World.
