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Acoustic
guitars? No samples or loops? Sounds a bit like an anachronism
for the year 2000, doesn’t it?
But
what is provided by Ezio Lunedei (singer/guitarist) and
Mark "Booga" Fowell (guitarist), is nothing less
than an anachronism, but one of the most innovative and
freshest phenomenons of the music market.
1990
in Cambridge: Ezio whose musical roots are somewhere between
Van Morrison and Jeff Buckley, looks for the ideal partner.
When he met Kenyan born Booga, next to 2 Metres high and
nearly that wide, it was only a matter of time before a
musical union of unprecedented quality was formed.
Looking
at these two guys you see two totally different types of
men, but when they start to play, they play with a rythmical
power and unity that’s hard to produce with a full
rhythm section!!
Booga’s
spontaneous fluid touch is the perfect complement to Ezio’s
emotive songs, imaginatively adding to the moods they invoke
but never swamping them or being flash for the sake of it.
Once
having met, the duo were playing over 200 hundred concerts
all over the British Isles. They attracted much record company
interest with Arista/BMG being the front runners, eventually
signing them.
In 1994
they signed their first and long awaited record deal. BMG
really took care of their young artists: "Black Boots
on Latin Feet" their debut album was produced by none
other than Rupert Hine (Stevie Nicks, Tina Turner, Noa,
Duncan Shiek).
The
highly acclaimed album resulted in support tours with a
few of the big names of the business: Paul Young, Les Negresses
Vertes, Joan Armatrading, Big Country etc.
Not
only in the UK but also in South Africa and other territories,
EZIO’s music found new audiences, who appreciated
their original style and attitude. After they started touring
Germany it became one of the most important markets for
them. Since the first shows there in 1995, they played more
than 150 concerts and have increased their audiences 5 fold
with similar results in the Netherlands and after a few
club shows they were invited to play the nation’s
biggest event, The Park Pop Festival!
One
of the main reasons for all of this success is their incredible
live show, which often leaves the audience with shiny eyes
and in an unbelievably enthusiastic mood.
But
far from this being a dreamy introverted songwriter show,
you need to imagine two mad men playing Rock ‘n Roll
on acoustic guitars!! This powerful and exciting show is
tempered with beautiful ballads, tales of longing, aching
love, which have the disconcerting habit of catching you
unaware with a line you could have written yourself, had
you been able to put these deeply buried feelings into words.
In 1997
their second album "Diesel Vanilla" was released
on MCA/Universal. It was produced by Rod Argent (Tanita
Tikaram) and Peter Van Hooke (Van Morrison, Mike and the
Mechanics). They provided a more band orientated environment
for the duo to work with leading them to new directions
by allowing two to become four, introducing drums and base
in to their live performances. Working with such legendary
musicians and producers, and appealing to a growing fan
base, could only spur this duo on to greater things.
In 1998
EZIO followed this path further on and so they began to
play their shows in the band line up, with their producer
Peter Van Hooke on drums and Lidia Cascarino on bass.
Ezio
and Booga felt very comfortable to be supported by two musicians
as great as these, and the incredible fun they had on stage
lead to EZIO’s 3 rd Album "Higher". It was
produced between September and December 1999 in Peter Van
Hooke’s Studio, and was recorded nearly fully live
in the same line up (with Lidia and Peter) EZIO had been
on tour with for so many month. To record the album with
a full band, to use nearly the same arrangements they play
live finally made it possible to close the gap that always
was to hear between the intimate mood of former recordings
and the incredible power of their live performances.
"Higher"
is a typical great third album. An album of a grown up band,
that already have seen most of the ups and downs of the
music business but never lost their way through it. An album
that is not copying the style of the former ones, but developing
it to a higher musical level.
"Higher"
was released in Germany, Austria and Switzerland at April
10 th, 2000, supported by a 28 show tour through all Germany
and a big marketing campaign.
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