Biography
RICK RISI(born 29 September 1970) Singer-songwriter, poet, ethnomusicologist
Had his first musical training in Milan, then moved to Bologna where he attended DAMS(study for the performing arts), here he developed a strong interest in Avant-guard, conceptual art and ethnomusicology. Started playing guitar with a few student bands, mostly jazz standards, then began writing his own songs.
in 1997 moved to Los Angeles to attend MI(Musician Institute) where he studied vocal technique and composition, also recorded his first demo tape.
in 1998 moved to London, busking on the tube then began playing in a few pubs and small venues his own material, first with a backing band then as a solo acoustic act.
In 1999 started working on his first album(Rick Risi) which will be released in 2000.
A year later began working on a more ambitious project with producer Peter Morris and a list of high standard musicians, the album "A different kind of colour" is released in late 2002. A few songs like "Underwater" or "Magica" gained lots of interest from public and critics, through the years these songs will be licensed for some video commercials.
In 2003 Rick embarked on a European tour to promote "A different kind of colour", also during this time writes his first poetry collection "The boat of empty sorrow".
In 2004 Rick released his third album "Smoke and tenderness", which has a more electronic vibe compared to the previous one, with large use of drum machine and sequencers.
continues with his writing and by the end of 2004 published the online version of his second poetry collection "A cathedral in the desert".
2005/06 was a busy time promoting "Smoke and tenderness" with a tour in UK and Italy, also writing and recording music for animation movies and documentaries.
While attending a workshop about Mongolian throat singing at SOAS(School of Oriental and African Studies)meets Michael Ormiston and Candida Valentino(experts in Mongolian throat singing and meditative/New age music), they introduce him to khoomei and kargyraa(Mongolian and Tuvan throat singing), the following years Rick will do a lot of research in Asian voice production and music as well as collaborating with Michael and Candida on several projects.
In 2013 Raffinerie Musicali releases Rick's most ambitious project "No shadow detected", the album has been recorded at three different locations: Milan, London, Ullanbatar and it features jazz/rock musicians as well as throat singers.
No shadow detected had several positive reviews, particularly in Germany and UK.
Rick had recently done extensive travelling in Asia (Mongolia, China, India, Bhutan and Nepal) where he has taken several recordings of local musicians and singers,he's now working on new music and sound design.