Tony Esposito (Tony Esposito) is a famous singer, composer and musician from Italy. His style is distinguished by a peculiar, but at the same time harmonious combination of the music of the peoples of Italy and the melodies of Naples. The artist was born on July 15, 1950 in the city of Naples.
The beginning of creativity Tony Esposito
Tony began his musical career in 1972, when he recorded his own songs. And in 1975, his first solo studio album, Rosso napoletano ("Red of Naples"), was released.
Just a year later, Esposito's two new discs, Processione Sul Mare ("Procession at Sea") and Procession of the Hierophants ("Procession of the Hierophants"), were released.
In parallel with the release of albums, the author was already working on the next one. Such fruitful activity did not go unnoticed.
In 1977, his next full-length disc, Gentedistratta ("Distracted People"), was released, for which Tony received his first Italian Critics Award.
Tony Esposito's mastery of musical instruments
He is an excellent percussionist-musician who owns percussion instruments. In creating his music, he likes to use an unusual instrument called the kalimba.
This is a device that is common in Madagascar and Central Africa; belongs to the class of lamellaphones of musical instruments. It is a kind of hand piano.
In his musical approach there is a place for a number of other instruments unusual for a standard European listener.
In the accompaniment, you can hear the bongo (a percussion instrument from Cuba), the maracas (a noise instrument from the Antilles), the marimba (a "relative" of the xylophone), the xylophone itself, and other rare items.
The performer admitted that African culture is close to him, Tony Esposito connects this with the fact that his grandmother is from Morocco.
Music directions
Esposito is a private participant in jazz festivals not only within his native country. For example, in 1978 and 1980 he was one of the musicians of the Montreux Jazz Festival (Switzerland).
His ethnic side in music set him apart from other performers. Also in his tracks you can hear new age, funk and jazz fusion.
All the time Tony did not work alone, throughout his career he was helped by fellow musicians. During the first musical upsurge of 1984-1985. the vocalist was Gianluigi Di Franco.
Interesting facts about the artist
In 1976, the Sunday television show Domenicain appeared in Italy.
In 1982, Tony Esposito's song Pagaia ("Oar") was chosen as the theme song for it. In total, Tony had 14 solo albums, the last of which was created and released in 2011 Sentirai (“You Feel”).
Esposito's fruitful work was noted not only for the novelty of sound and interesting approach to recording, but also for the quality of the recording tracks.
In 1985, the artist received the Critics' Award for the active sale of his CDs (5 million copies). In the same year, in Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and Venezuela, Tony received an award in the form of a gold disc.
Collaborations with other musicians were infrequent in Tony's career, but were always memorable to the public.
Since the 1970s, he met and collaborated with such artists as: Alan Sorrenti, Eduardo Bennato, Francesco Guccini, Francesco de Gregori, Roberto Vecchioni, the Perigeo group.
Leaving Italy
The name Tony Esposito was known only within professional musicians, but he wanted to enter the world market.
Since preparing for the release of the first album, he has worked fruitfully without interruption and released a significant amount of material. His diligence was repeatedly appreciated by critics.
Finally, in 1984, Tony released the composition Kalimba De Luna, which attracted listeners from all over the world. This song pleased not only average people, but also professional musicians.
Rhythm and harmonious fullness prompted the creation of remixes and cover versions of this track. In total, over 10 famous artists performed it during the history of the song's creation.
Among them are Boney M. (disco group from Germany), Dalida (French actress and singer of Italian origin) and Ricky Martin (Puerto Rican pop musician).
The song Kalimba De Luna entered all the music tops of the countries, not only in the original version of Tony, but also thanks to the performance of other artists.
After worldwide fame
Tony could not afford to take a break between releases of songs, his worldwide success on stage had to be strengthened and increased. In 1985, the author wrote his song Papa Chico and released it as a separate single.
With this composition, the artist supported his title of a worthy musician. The track found its "fans" in the Benelux countries, hit various music charts.
The song has remained popular to this day because of its ageless sound, musicians around the world continue to create cover versions of Papa Chico's composition.
Tony Esposito now
Tony Esposito continues to conquer musical heights, he still works fruitfully on stage and is not going to leave it. The last album was released a long time ago, so the "fans" are looking forward to the appearance of new compositions performed by the author.
