Paolo Angeli

Paolo Angeli at Joe's Pub in New York City. March 8th, 2025. "Paolo Angeli is considered one of the most important innovators on the international music scene. Originally from Palau (at the northern tip of Sardinia), he grew up with his gaze turned toward the sea. Starting from the traditional instrument, thanks to a decade-long apprenticeship with master Giovanni Scanu and the influences of 20th-century avant-garde visionaries, he created the prepared Sardinian guitar, a true orchestra-instrument. Since the mid-1990s, he has embraced influences from free jazz, folk noise, minimal pop, contemporary flamenco, Arabic music, and post-rock, reachin at a synthesis language that brings Sardinian traditional music into the contemporary world. Improvisation is the driving force behind Paolo Angeli’s 30-year career, not only as a means of connecting and developing compositional structures but also as a practice of communication among musicians from diverse latitudes and musical cultures. His journey reached a milestone in 2018 with a performance at Carnegie Hall in New York, cementing his place among the world’s leading “innovators with roots” and defining a groundbreaking path for Mediterranean avant-garde music. Paolo Angeli has released 13 solo albums and contributed to over 50 records. Since 2005, he lives in Spain and regularly tours the most prestigious festivals and theaters across all continents. He has improvised and collaborated with hundreds of musicians, including Pat Metheny – who has used a replica of Paolo Angeli’s Guitar since 2003- Fred Frith, Iva Bittová, Hamid Drake, Evan Parker, Antonello Salis, Jon Rose, Iosonouncane, and many others" (notes taken from Paolo's website). "Composer, ethnomusicologist, and instrument builder Paolo Angeli learned guitar from his father in the port of Palau in Sardinia. He later moved to Bologna where he joined music ensembles, learning collective composition and improvisation, and also met the legendary guitarist Giovanni Scanu who taught him traditional Sardinian songs in the local dialects of Gallurese and Logudorese. Through his unconventional training in both contemporary and folk music, he developed an expansive and experimental style he expresses through his custom-made prepared electro-acoustic Sardinian guitar with features that add sounds of cello and percussion to his borderless and genre-defying repertoire". (notes taken from Joe's Pub concert announcement). Here is a link to Paolo's website:https://www.paoloangeli.com/en/