Mario Biondi is considered the great European voice of jazz, soul and r'n'b, with the particularity that he is Sicilian, white, blond and with blue eyes, as he usually jokingly highlights. Because his seductive and deep baritone voice follows in the footsteps of Isaac Hayes, Barry White, Lou Rawls or, especially, Al Jarreau.
Biondi (Catania, 1971) has taken advantage of the pandemic times to publish last year an album of jazz profiles such as Dare and, last April, Romantic, a sampler of love songs in varied styles. Accompanied by his band, he will present them tomorrow at the reborn Andorra Jazz Escaldes-Engordany (Prat del Roure room, 9 p.m.) and, on July 9, at the Porta Ferrada Festival (in this one, La Vanguardia subscribers have a discount 15% on the price of the tickets as long as they are purchased at Vanguard Tickets)
He's hyper-productive: two albums in a year.
Well, I am in love with music, all day I think about writing, about music, and I don't stop until I fall ill. Music is like blood in my veins, it's something I can't control. For this reason, the release of these two albums and the fact that they were so different is due to the fact that I was improvising on the fly, at the same moment that I finished Dare I started working on the other one.
Where was the idea for Romantic born? With the pandemic?
I took a lot of ideas, a suitcase full of them during the pandemic, to the point that I have material right now to make three or four more albums. Music is also something consubstantial with my very existence, I grew up listening to music as a child with my father, then in a recording studio, later with my computer, and every day I'm working on something, except this week [last week, when the interview was conducted], because I am in Italy because my brother is getting married.
But why the romantic theme?
First of all, because my soul is like that, I am a romantic, it is a very important part of my character and I am very proud of it. Why not? The topic, the custom, the passage of time, has always identified man with a strong being, not at all romantic, powerful. And I think over time I am a powerful enough person to be a very romantic man. Age is interesting because it shows you who you really are, and luckily I am. Romantic both in life and in love... as my nine children show.
And that in current times is not a cool word.
Sometimes people do not remember love, and that is why I say that we must never forget that we were born, we are alive or we walk thanks to love. Romanticism is very necessary, and in fact love is the backbone of our lives. Look, I believe in human beings, in their goodness, and that we have the ability to save this world upside down.
You believe?
I've already told it on more than one occasion, but when I was young, in the seventies, I used to listen to The age of Aquarius , by The 5th Dimension, and that song made me think that brotherhood exists, and that's what I'm into. The first song of my new album, The Creator has a master plan, is in that line and comes to be like an explanatory introduction. People should be aware of their strength, so they don't have to start a war to prove it. And unfortunately we have a very recent example.
The album ends with a song by Lucio Battisti, Take it as it comes. Some reason?
I've been singing it for thirty years. It is perhaps the only song of mine that I listen to over and over again, because I often can't stand myself, and it is a good remedy.
And the sound dresses on this album are very seventies.
When I started working on this romantic project, the first thing was to get a sound very close to the seventies, not dance music, but Marvin Gaye and other references in that vein. I wouldn't have been able to do it without the musicians in my group. I do not lie.
How do you feel when you are told or read that you are the best-selling Italian vocalist today?
The very first time I heard it was when he had sold 400,000 copies of the Handful of Soul album and I was totally blown away, because if it was true it was almost a miracle. Because we are talking about a country like Italy and with a record of this type of music and sung entirely in English. I, who am a Mediterranean, white, with blond hair, although now I have no hair, with blue eyes, ha ha ha. It was shocking also visually. I felt incredibly satisfied, but above all grateful to many people for helping me.
Did you have any difficulties in that regard? Do you have them?
I have always been considered different. But musically speaking, I've always been considered a weirdo, an outsider, and the truth is that I like the idea of being one. When I started singing in English, you can't imagine how many people in the music industry told me that an Italian singing in English would never achieve anything. Even my colleagues recognized this unusual fact. I've also told it sometimes, but years ago I met and collaborated with Bluey [guitarist Jean-Paul Maunick], from the group Incognito, we connected right away, and I remember what he said to me when he saw me: “You must be the Italian stray bullet!”
Well, he hasn't done badly in that aspect, because he has collaborated with Ray Charles, Al Jarreau, Chaka Khan, Earth Wind
I feel very lucky. And it's not a question of egos. For me it is a dream to have been able to meet many of the musicians I listened to and admired as a child. In this aspect, the one I have always admired and had as a reference has been Al Jarreau, because I grew up listening to his songs without stopping until exhaustion. And the greatest honor was when I was able to meet him personally, and from there collaborate with him and end up being friends.
How are the concerts you are offering?
On stage we are seven, me included: guitars, pianist, bassist, drummer and two wind musicians. We have been together for ten years, and the results and sensations are excellent. Regarding the repertoire, we will do some songs from Romantic, some more from Dare, from Handful of soul. .. actually a combination of all my records.
Topical but unavoidable question: how has the pandemic affected you?
It was not easy at all because I lost two very close friends of mine. Life is not easy to accept, but you have to try to give your best every hour of every day because you don't know what can happen. In return, I discovered my family. I have to admit, in a very sad way, that thanks to the pandemic I had more opportunities to be with my children, my wife, my mother.
