Roberto Battista

(this is the cover of the very record, still in my collection!)	... a 'side' note... In the early 60s my father brought home the original recording of West Side Story, and with that he opened for me a door into the borderless world of a new generation of music, one that could integrate unlikely styles and traditions in organic marriages and hybrid cross-breedings of unlimited creative potential. Then came Bartok's Microkosmos, Ives' Holiday Symphony, Stravinsky's Persephone and Hungarian Gypsies, Nino Rota's soundtracks for Fellini's films, Moroccan voices and Indian tablas, Persian Ouds and Frank Zappa's early works, the Henry Cow's summer tours of Italy ... too late to stop, I was hooked!!
click here for GrrR = great recordings recommended by Roberto, over 400 eclectic choices... music I likeand listen to
some samples of my own music [MP4 format, click on titles to play].
A wobbly walk with a springloaded friend		Very close, very far
These are excerpts from home recordings made in 1997, '98, '99. The music is improvised and made with electric guitar (60s and 70s Gibson Les Paul Customs), custom electric fretless guitar-oud, e-bowed guitars, Zoom and Roland Boss effects and Yamaha toy keyboard, first takes recorded on Apple Mac with M-Audio Firewire interface, mixed on the fly, no post-production, little more than a sketchbook.

	wobble 1 wobble 2 wobble 3 wobble 4 wobble 5 wobble 6 wobble 7 wobble 8 wobble 9 wobble 10		closeness 1 closeness 2 closeness 3 closeness 4 closeness 5 closeness 6 closeness 7 closeness 8 closeness 9 closeness 10 closeness 11 closeness 12 closeness 13 closeness 14 closeness 15
The woman in the mirror - 2007
Excerpts from a series of improvised experiments for guitar, voice and some keyboard, perversely simple soundtracks for imaginary films created with multi-talented artist Anna Lewenhaupt.	Look at me 0.21 min 344 K Merry go round 1.25 min 676 K Merry go drunk 1.47 min 852 K Help me 2.05 min 996 K Little voices in large spaces 2.54 min 1.4 Mb Let me sing you a tale 2.13 min 1 Mb Split blues 2.28 min 1.1 Mb Was I here before? 0.30 min 240 K	Running after myself in Algeria 3.12 min 1.5 Mb Look at me, I walk on the roof! 2.44 min 660 K Hiding in the churchyard 1.22 min 1 Mb My friend is shredding his guitar! 3.16 min 1.3 Mb from Anna's "Barbie horror movies" bubble 1 1.51 min 1.3 Mb bubble 2 1.33 min 1.1 Mb
Salotti musicali
The "salotti musicali" (I prefer the diminutive Italian version to the grander French "Salon") always take place in the context of other art events, not out of modesty but as a choice: art as exchange, as reciprocal inspiration that transcends the visual, verbal or aural forms. The idea is to invite musicians who normally play "other" music, who have never performed together and sometimes not even met before the show. The guidelines are loose, I suggest metaphors such as carpet weaving, where a main thread holds the whole together, a main narrative of motifs is added and then decorated and enriched by several people's manual and creative intervention. Or I suggest colour palettes to be used in the creation of delicate and fragile musical patterns. Or the idea of nomads who meet in an oasis, and sit down around the fire to tell each other stories from the far lands they visited. We do it with sound and with attention to each other’s sensibilities. I choose the musicians for these events in an alchemical way, as I feel, with nothing to prove it, that the resulting combination will be interesting and perhaps a pleasant surprise for musicians and audience alike. The music is totally improvised and as such it doesn't 'work' every time, but it is always a worthwhile and unique experience. In this I follow one of my own little chimeras, the idea that the combination of different human abilities can result in unexpected and surprising expressive forms of art (or artistic forms of expression?) and genuine creativity, sometimes starting a process of discovery and new friendships. The element of accident and coincidence is important too, as it falls in a grander design, in that invisible thread that joins us all. Placing the music in the context of other art work is a reason for inspiration and dialogue.
Salotti musicali at Chimera - 2006		Salotti musicali at News from Nowhere - 2005
Chimera was a visual art exhibition held in London, presenting the work of a group of artists organised by Annabelle Moreau and including her work. (see the archived Chimera site)		News from nowhere was a multidisciplinary event including exhibitions, installations, film and theatre, music, involving 150 artists from 12 countries, presented in 9 locations in Walthamstow, London over several weeks, created and masterly organised by artist Steve Wheeler (I looked after the film and music sections) (see the archived News from nowhere site)
Musicians: Andrew Downs as Abigail Politely Decided, Hammond Organ and loops - Davide Mantovani, bass, percussion, breath synthesizer (EVI), Echoplex looper and Organic Drum Kit, with Ross Hughes, sax, clarinet, flute, cavaquinho as Polaris - Richard Makin, reading from his book "Work in Process" - Giulio Risi, keyboards - Rachel Musson, sax - Saul Holding, drums, percussions - Gianluca Lubona, percussions – Renu Hossain, tabla - Wendy Nieper, voice - Pepe Arce, guitar – and myself, electric, acoustic, fretless, detuned and e-bowed guitars, toy keyboard and loops.	click on titles to play video excerpts for the performance, filmed by Lola Perrin Annabelle 240x170 1.35 min 2.5 Mb Bolerante 240x170 4.47 min 8.2 Mb Polaris hop 240x170 1.20 min 2.2 Mb Sparse 240x170 2.39 min 4.6 Mb	Musicians: Lola Perrin, piano + image projections opening the first night - Davide Mantovani, bass, percussion, breath synthesizer (EVI), Echoplex looper and Organic Drum Kit, with Roberto Manes, violin, percussions, as Polaris - Richard Makin, narrator, Rowland Sutherland, flute - myself and Pepe Arce, guitars from inner space - Andrew Downs as Abigail Politely Decided, Hammond Organ and loops - Matt Groom, electronic manipulations - Yelena, piano, Mardyah Tucker, violin - Francine Loze, cello - Wendy Nieper, voice	Fragments from the live ensemble improvisation. SMU-1 0.53 min 632 K SMU-2 1.05 min 776 K SMU-3 1.03 min 752 K SMU-4 2.01 min 1.4 Mb SMU-5 0.55 min 656 K SMU-6 1.52 min 1.3 Mb SMU-7 2.39 min 1.8 Mb SMU-8 2.2 min 1.4 Mb
Guitar trio at Moist night - London 2006
	click on image to play video filmed by Anna Lewenhaupt 160x120 pixels, 17 minutes, 15.8 Mb	The great musicians and extremely nice people who make up the band Moist play a regular monthly night at the Fleapit in London and, in their infinite generosity and desire to promote the arts, each time invite (more or less wisely) other musicians to open the night. This time it was Chris Jones, Simon Hopkins and myself improvising on guitars.
Lunatix live, Turin 1986
On stage with Lunatix in 1986 - my son laughs a lot when he sees this picture. Fortunately laughing is good for one's health!	Paris '39 3.1 Mb 6.36 min Perfect Monday 1.2 Mb 2.41 min Hello Halley 2.9 Mb 6.14 min Next time 2.9 Mb 6.15 min Circo Tognazzi 3.4 Mb 7.22 min A free Ka 3.1 Mb 6.36 min Sequence 2.5 Mb 5.22 min Sclero tango 704 K 1.28 min	Lunatix was a blend of musicians from different bands, in this set of live recordings are Gianni Daniello, drums, Fabio Aghemo, bass, Sergio Zaccardelli, sax, flute and clarinet, Claudio "Rubens" Granzieri, keyboard, Mapo Raja percussion and vibes, myself, guitar. This was a group of friends based in Turin, Italy, who had played together in a variety of different groups, from jazz to contemporary, from prog-rock to ethnic; we got together with the idea of making some fun music that could 'tease' the commercial funk and make people dance. The biggest gig we played was as support for Gong in their Italian tour for the launch of Shamal. The few tracks presented here were kindly rescued by Davide Mantovani from a 20 years old cassette tape recorded live! The one in the picture was my first Les Paul Custom, bought second hand in 1971 in Italy from a guitarist who had bought it in Los Angeles in 1968. It was one of some 400 guitars Mr Les Paul himself had designed, chosen the wood for and supervised the production of after returning to Gibson that year. This was a truly exceptional instrument that unfortunately was stolen from me in London in 1990 - may a bolt strike the thief.

some samples of my own music [MP4 format, click on titles to play].