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The name of Vincenzo Mingiardi is synonymous on the Italian jazz
circuit with guitar playing of extraordinary virtuosity and imagination.
He is also a composer, and tinkerer with anything that will give
the instrument a new and interesting musical voice. He often makes
you wonder how a guitar was ever capable of producing such a sound,
something summed up by the critic Paul Donnelly who wrote of 'the
lupine wail of Vincenzo Mingiardi's electric guitar'.
If you caught him playing at the Vilnius Jazz Festival with quartet
Musica Reservata you would have heard, according to the programme
writer, 'Certain concrete compositions and total improvisations.
[The] quartet treats improvisation as a closed dialogue and includes
in it unusual musical reminiscences, quasi-folk elements, pointed
with original rhythm and noise tracery, developed in constant change
between the musicians and the audience.' Another way to put it would
be Vincenzo and friends having lots of fun.
Vincenzo has a profound interest in the Sufi way and has spent much
of the last decade studying oriental and particularly Indian music.
He has organised classes in Hindustani music in his native Parma,
and is considered such an authority that Italian tourist clubs have
even published two guides written by him about India. The three
pieces we present draw deeply on his Indian experiences.
Vincenzo
has also been a great friend to Bhopal, organising meetings in Parma
and helping build support for the campaign.
On
3 December in Parma, Vincenzo has organised a concert for Bhopal
entitled "Elegy for a City":
ELEGY
FOR A CITY
Elegia
per una città – Ricordare Bhopal nel ventennale della
tragedia
Da un’idea di Vincenzo Mingiardi. 3 dicembre 2004, Casa della
Musica, P.le San Francesco 1, Parma
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