Roberto Catalano was born in Catania, Sicily. He is a scholar, a music instructor, and a professional musician. He began his musical career in 1973 as a self-taught musician and earned his degrees later on in life. He holds a Ph.D. in Ethnomusicology from UCLA. His academic interests include music cultures of the Mediterranean area, organology (the study of musical instruments), and music from the Near East.
He is an instrument collector currently owning 172 instruments from all over the world. As a guitarist he has performed in major cities such as Rome, London, Vancouver, and Los Angeles. He has played with accomplished jazz artists such as guitarist John Scofield and performed as the opening act for jazz guitar and piano duo Jim Hall-Michel Petrucciani.
As an arranger he has written several scores in different contemporary styles including a Sardinian polyphonic vocal piece for the string instruments of Grammy Award winner Kronos Quartet.
Roberto Catalano founded Musicàntica in Los Angeles, California in 1994.
Roberto Catalano plays guitar, mandolin, chitarra battente, bouzouki, jew’s harp, ‘ud, benas, percussion, vocals.
Discography:
auccalamma
Sott’al fico (2015)
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.
