When
its done right, the sound of trumpet in a group fronted by electric
jazz guitar is a winning combination and it works wonders on 3 by
Giovanni Moltoni. Italian born and currently teaching up at Berklee
College of Music, Moltoni is one of today’s leading jazz guitar
innovators. The 2008 CD release of 3 pairs Moltoni with a quartet
including Greg Hopkins trumpet. On his most appealing album
yet, Giovanni’s guitar and synth puts on a stunning display of
sonic guitar atmospherics on a CD of Moltoni originals. www.GiovanniMoltoni.com
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GIOVANNI MOLTONI
Musical Background
I was born Turin Italy and I started playing the guitar when I was
about 14 years old. While playing with local bands, I started taking
lessons in improvisation and jazz, and studying to take some conservatory
exams in theory and solfege. In 1989, I moved to Boston, where I graduated
with a degree in composition at Berklee College of Music and then
a masters in jazz performance at the New England Conservatory. I still
live in Boston where I am now an associate professor at Berklee, and
I perform with my quartet and in various other settings. I have been
playing the guitar for almost 30 years. Professionally for about 25.
New CD
This CD is the result of many live concerts where the music was tested
and perfected by this quartet. The title, 3 comes from the CD being
my third release as a band leader. In Jan. 2008, we played the last
concert before the recording. The music was ready, the new guitar
setup I had been working on for the past few month was fully established,
and I felt confident that it was time to record. The CD was completed
in two recording dates: one day in Feb. and one day in March. I believe
this CD reflects many different aspects of my personality, instrumentally
of course, by how the guitar is used in the development of solos,
selections of voicings, use of counterpoint and texture throughout
the album. But also compositionally with tonal, modal and polymodal
compositions, and technologically with the use of the computer to
bring in the synth to expand the sonic experience of the quartet.
Favorite Guitars
The guitar I have used the most in recent years is a Gibson ES135
with a Roland MIDI pickup. This is also the guitar I use for this
album. I also have a Fender Telecaster and a Ibanez Artstar AS200AV
that I have enjoyed playing. On the acoustic side I have a Guild JF30,
an Ovation Collectors series 1992. For my live setup, I switched to
a computer based setup about a year ago. I use a mac laptop, the sound
interface is a TC Electronics Konnekt 8, and the MIDI is translated
by a Roland GI-20. The guitar and the synth sounds are output in parallel
to 2 guitar amps and they can be controlled by two separate volume
pedals. For the guitar sound I use amplitube 2 and for the synth I
use Mainstage (part of Logic). Together with the sounds that came
with Logic I also use a variety of virtual instruments like Reason,
Dimention pro and others.
Musical Influences
I have been greatly influenced by a number of musicians, guitar players
as well as other instrumentalists. Some of my favorite guitar players
are: Jim Hall, Pat Metheny, John Scofield, John Abercrombie, Mick
Goodrick, Mike Stern. There are many others but those are the ones
that come to mind right now. As you can see they are very different
guitarists from different generations. My musical upbringing has been
influenced by very different styles and the guitar as an instrument
has been evolving very quickly and in many different directions in
the past 30 to 50 years. At different times in my life I have been
into listening to guitar players, piano players, sax and trumpet players
among others for different aspects of their playing. In some occasions
I would listen for their comping, other times a solo. Together with
the quality of the instrumentalists, I was always very interested
in how the music would hold together, which aspects of the composition
I really seem to enjoy. I have always had interest for both technical
skills and compositional mastery. I have hundreds of CDs, many of
which has made an impact on me for one reason or another - mostly
jazz, but also classical and contemporary music have been what affected
me the most.
Web Site
www.giovannimoltoni.com
email: music@giovannimoltoni.com
