Tito Rinesi is a composer and researcher specializing in ethnic and traditional music from various countries. He is a multi-instrumentalist and singer, proficient in playing plectrum instruments such as the bouzouki, saz, djura, acoustic guitar, as well as piano, harmonium, santur, and daff.
Rinesi began his musical career in 1968, performing country music and American West Coast music with the acoustic guitar and harmonica. He played at Folkstudio in Rome. In 1972, after attending a concert by Pandit Pran Nath, a significant influence, he joined the multimedia group Living Music, inspired by Beat generation poets like Allen Ginsberg and Jack Kerouac, and Indian philosophy.
In 1973, Rinesi became part of the acoustic group Dulcimer. He later joined the progressive rock group Saintjust, recording an LP with EMI in 1974, featuring vocals by Jenny Sorrenti.
From 1976 onwards, Rinesi focused on the study and research of traditional music from various countries, particularly Indian, Middle Eastern, and Mediterranean singing. He studied with notable teachers including Sangeeta Bandyopadhyay, Sayeeduddin Dagar, Ritwik Sanyal, Amelia Cuni, Wasifuddin Dagar, Cinucen Tanrikorur, Ahmet Erdogdular, and Veka Aler.
Rinesi has composed soundtracks for movies, stage productions, radio, and television, integrating elements from diverse cultural traditions, thus bridging Eastern and Western, as well as Northern and Southern musical traditions.
From 1995 to 2015, he collaborated with RAI Italian Television, composing original music for various broadcasts and several CDs for their Music Library, first with Fonit Cetra and then with Rai Trade and Rai Com. He also released 12 ethnomusicology/world music albums with Flipper Music/Deneb Music publishers.
Since 1993, Rinesi has resumed publishing his own compositions on CD, characterized by the sound of ethnic instruments such as the bouzouki and saz. His notable works include: Il Tempo è Circolare (1993), Lux Oriens (1997), Mare Nostrum (2003), Meetings (2008) and Verso Levante (2012).
After nearly 20 years of studying North Indian singing, particularly the Khyal and Dhrupad traditions, Rinesi began delving into the Sufi musical tradition from Türkiye and the Ottoman Empire in 2013. This research led to the project of recording and publishing a trilogy of Sufi songs in ancient Turkish: Ilahi (2024), Rameshgar (2021) and Dargah (2020).
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.