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Artist
Riccardo Zappa
12+ albums
Progressive rocksoft rockitalianitalian progressive rockinstrumental
about
Born in Forlì (Italy) in 1951, RICCARDO ZAPPA is widely recognized as the greatest Italian acoustic guitarist. For five consecutive years he was voted the best in the poll promoted by the famous monthly magazine "Guitar Club". After that, he was declared to be no longer eligible for nomination. He studied with classical guitarist Miguel Abloniz (died in 2002), and was very interested in research, for instance on electronic instruments and all new technologies applied to sound. He has created, with delicacy and precision, an elegant fusion between classical and modern music like no one else has done before in Italy. His music is in fact quite unique in the whole Italian prog scene; nor can many other comparisons be found outside Italy, except perhaps Mike Oldfield, for his long, acoustic-based instrumental compositions. His unmistakable trademark is the "Ovation" guitar, an instrument with a striking nasal sound, very suited to being handled with special effects. After the first three albums, he added to his usual instrumentation a twelve-string "Bozo" guitar, with which he extended his musical spectrum towards more refined, polished results. His first work, "Auhlela & Zappa" was recorded in 1974 as a duo, with lyrics and vocals by Klaus Auhlela and music by Riccardo Zappa himself. After three years of silence, he began his solo career with the album "Celestion" (1977), where the combination between classical (acoustic) and modern (electronic) influences is clearly evident.
