The guitarist, composer, ethnomusicologist, and instrument builder Paolo Angeli is associated with traditional Sardinian music. Whatever you want to call it, nobody else is doing it quite like this. Paolo Angeli, the Sardinian sorcerer, manually magics beautiful, multi-layered music from his unique prepared guitar: a hybrid orchestra of an instrument with strings going in all directions, foot-pedal-controlled motorized propellers and hammers to create shimmering drones and bass-lines as he bows, strikes, plucks and strums while producing rhythmic atmospherics by treading on a plastic bag and adjusting tunings on the fly. Electronic effects are utilized but no loops.
With this singular instrument he improvises and composes unclassifiable music, suspended between traditional music of Sardinia, free jazz, flamenco, Arabic suggestions, post-folk and pre-everything else, and came back in Sardinia with his voice into the furrows of tradition. Paolo Angeli strums, bows, and hammers the instrument, and adds traditional Sardinian vocalizing, in a stunning performance of music from his latest albums NÍJAR, RADE, JAR’A, and 22.22 Free Radiohead. This one person and one instrument concert is a rarity.
Paolo Angeli grew up facing the sea on the northernmost tip of Sardinia. Considered one of the most important innovators with roots in the international music scene, he has developed a synthesis of language that brings Sardinian traditional music into the contemporary era, creating an ideal bridge between memory and innovation. This has led to a Mediterranean avant-garde music style, suspended between free jazz, folk noise, minimal pop, and post-rock. A co-protagonist of Angeli’s music is his custom Sardinian guitar, an orchestra-like instrument equipped with 25 strings, a hybrid between a baritone guitar, cello, and percussion. It is fitted with hammers, foot pedals, and variable-pitch propellers. Paolo Angeli has released 12 solo albums, has lived in Spain since 2005, and regularly performs at the most important festivals and theaters across all continents. He has improvised and collaborated with Fred Frith, Iva Bittová, Hamid Drake, Evan Parker, Antonello Salis, Pat Metheny, Jon Rose, Iosonouncane, and others.