Introduction:
Latin - Spanish - Flamenco Guitarist
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About Giorgio...
Latin - Spanish - Flamenco Guitarist
Born in Sardinia, an Italian island, which has been influenced by a variety of cultures in the centre of the Mediterranean Sea.
Similarly, Giorgio's musical palette has been influenced and enriched by music from all over the world. After travelling, studying and performing in different parts of the globe he is establishing himself as a guitarist, composer and teacher.
Giorgio started self-teaching himself guitar at a young age and then went on to study classical guitar with Marco Meloni, an Early Classical Music specialist. His love for improvised music and jazz brought him to study jazz in Ravenna with John Scofield, John Surman and Tony Oxley with whom he performed at the "Teatro Dante Alighieri".
In 1994 he moved to London to study at Goldsmiths College where he gained a diploma in jazz and Popular Music (with special commendation) and one in Music Teaching for Adults. Giorgio went on to study composition and arranging for jazz Orchestra with the Composer Mark Bassey, and Arabic music in London as well as in Tunisia, Jordan where he played for The Royal Family.
He joined force with Lebanese percussionist Rony Barrak, mixing Arabic rhythms and scales with jazz, Brazilian and Flamenco music performing in Beirut, Tripoli and other cities in Lebanon and in the UK at the Purcell Room, St.George Bristol. He then recorded in Beirut for EMI and the singer Nawal Zoughby, a top Middle Eastern singer.
Giorgio has supported Shirley Bassey at the Royal Festival Hall with the band 'Vibration' and has also performed alongside the saxophonist Andy Shepperd at the Brecon Festival. At the City of Birmingham Hall he arranged one piece for the Orchestra and performed at the jazz Cafe in London. Giorgio has performed with Japanese musicians such as Shima Kobayashi (Chromatic Harmonica) and Ryuko Mizutani (Koto) at the Queen Mary Hall as well as at the Anglo Japanese Centre and at the BMIC in London composing for these concerts a Suite for Harmonica, Koto and Guitar and arranging with Kobayashi Traditional Japanese music.
In January and in October 2000, he went to New York to perform and record with U.S. top jazz musicians such as bass player Harvie Swartz (M.Stern, J.Scofield, P.Martino), saxophonist Virginia Mayhew, drummer Allison Miller, saxophonist Greg Abate (Ray Charles), pianist Mark Soskin (M.Brecker, S.Rollins) and guitarist Vic Juris.
From 1998 to 2000 Giorgio joined forces with the flamenco guitarist Eduardo Niebla with whom he has toured the UK, Spain, Austria, Germany, Russia, Slovenia and Switzerland, giving concerts in established venues and international guitar festivals: Purcell Room, Festival Hall, Barbican (London); Also the Orpheus (Graz), La Spirale (Fribourg), Satchmo Club (Slovenia), Keller Theatre (Zurich), Altes Kino (Oberndorf), The Moods (Zurich), Tblisi jazz Festival (Georgia), Majorca jazz Festival, Cardiff jazz Festival, The Proms, Belfast Guitar Festival and Fish Quay Jazz Festival, to name but a few.
His work has been broadcast on BBC Radio in London, Belfast and Inverness, on Spanish Television, Georgian TV and Radio. This collaboration produced the CD 'The Gift'.
In 1999 he founded the six piece band 'Big Sunflower' and just after three months won the International Jazz Award. His band was selected as Best Band out of over 100 others at the Sant' Anna Arresi 1999 Festival, Italy. In the same year, Giorgio joined forces with the British classical guitarist Simon Davies, forming the SERCI-DAVIES guitar duo. This duo performs original compositions on two classical guitars, which have a thin boundary between jazz, modern classical and world music. They performed in London at the BMIC; St. James Church in Piccadilly, St. Magnum Church and other established venues and festivals as well as producing the CD 'Lo Scenario'.
In 2001 began the collaboration with the guitarist Antonio Forcione with whom he performs in duo and quartet with Cellist Jenny Adejan and percussionist Adriano Pinto, touring worldwide. They have just completed the CD 'Touch Wood' which was released in July 2003. (Mintaka Management)
After a long collaboration, Giorgio and the pianist Bob Stuckey recorded the CD 'Loch Ness', released in May 2003.
Giorgio is a lecturer at the Academy of Contemporary Music, Guilford, UK.