Draft:Marco Tiraboschi

Marco Tiraboschi (Italian pronunciation: [ˈmarko ˌtiraˈboski]; born 13 June 1976, Brescia) is an Italian guitarist, oud player, and composer, specialising in jazz and world music.

Biography

Son of an amateur musician, his first approach to music was listening to popular music played by his father and trying to replicate its melodies on an old EKO guitar. After spending his early teenage years playing rock with various bands, he turned towards classical music, passing the auditions to enter the conservatory in Brescia.

During his extensive studies to become a classical guitarist, he discovered that the academic environment leaned towards a narrow view of the musical world, which clashed with his personality. Seeking different artistic stimuli, he immersed himself in the underground scene, enabling him to collaborate with avant-garde musicians, while making ends meet by performing in small clubs and managing a small art-house cinema owned by filmmaker Silvano Agosti, with whom he became friends. Navigating between free jazz, contemporary classical music, and bossa nova, he also dedicated himself to pop music, helping singer L’Aura take her first steps in the music world by producing her initial "demo" recordings.

During this period, he self-produced two albums, Nove giorni persi and Live in Brest, summarising his artistic exploration of the time. He also appeared in Agosti's La ragion pura as an extra and musician. After completing his studies and exhausting the wild years of experimentation, he moved to Greece for a year, settling in Corinth. There, he integrated with local musicians and became a member of the Orfeas Orchestra, touring with traditional, pop, and jazz musicians, and had the opportunity to work closely with Natasa Boufiliou, a future star of Greek popular music. During this vibrant life experience, he met composer Giannis Spanos, his neighbor at the time, and attended a concert by Mikis Theodorakis. Fascinated by Rebetiko, the popular music born in Athens' underworld, he began playing the bouzouki, baglamas, oud, and Turkish saz baglama.

Upon returning to Italy, he founded Etnikòs, a trio in which he reinterpreted the cultural influences absorbed during his travels. With this group, he performed in Italy and abroad, especially in France. While in Paris, inspired by the city's cultural diversity, he composed new music. At the same time, he returned to his old passion for cinema, regularly scoring silent films from the early 20th century with musicians like Steve Lawson, Tino Tracanna, Fulvio Sigurtà, Guido Bombardieri, and his old friend L’Aura.

He moved briefly to Siena to attend courses at Siena Jazz, deepening his understanding of Afro-American improvisational language. There, he played with great Italian jazz musicians, including Marco Tamburini, Mario Raja, and Franco D’Andrea. He was noticed by Pietro Leveratto, with whom he formed a collaborative relationship and developed an improvisation workshop.

His unique musical style evolved through collaborations with musicians from various cultural backgrounds, such as Clay Ross, Natassa Boufiliou, Dudu Kouate, Marc Ribot, Franca Masu, L’Aura, Javier Girotto, Tino Tracanna, Achille Succi, Mauro Negri, Steve Lawson, and Alessandro "Asso" Stefana.

A versatile artist, Tiraboschi draws inspiration from diverse musical stimuli, from jazz to Latin, Middle Eastern, and African music. striving for a synthesis that is as personal and communicative as possible.

Over the course of his career, he has founded world music groups such as Etnikòs, Yiddish Trio, and Ginastera Tango 5, as well as the ethno-jazz project Chutzpah, released by Dodicilune. His solo album In a New World gained him national recognition, bolstered by positive reviews in the specialised press.

Guitar Style

Tiraboschi's playing, described as "syncretic," includes elements from his studies in traditional jazz and classical music, combined with techniques derived from ethnic instruments such as the Kora, Oud, Saz, and African percussion. His retro sound, inspired by the tones of the past, blends with modern multicultural influences.

He uses a variety of instruments, ranging from archtop guitars with floating or embedded pickups like the Guild Artist Award to amplified acoustic instruments processed through various electronic effects. On In a New World, he utilised acoustic guitars with "hybrid" string sets to achieve boundary-pushing tonalities.[2]

Discography

As leader and co-leader

• 1999 - Nove Giorni Persi
• 2013 - Chutzpah (con Simone Prando e Gino Zambelli) (Dodicilune)
• 2014 - Byiuya (con Ginastera Tango 5) (Movimento Classical)
• 2015 - Kasa (con Simone Prando, Lorenzo Blardone, Natan Sinigaglia, Riccardo Chiaberta) (Pss!)
• 2024 - In a new world (Da Vinci Publishing)

Collaborations

• 2000 - Stefano Ricci - impronte
• 2016 - ppq432 - una piccola pausa dalla quotidianità - (Compagnia della stampa)
• 2017 - Simone Prando - With a star in the brain - (Grottino)

Compilations

• 2004 - Oltre i confini
• 2007 - Arci musica e libertà (Indie box)
• 2013 - Phonocult

Pubblications, books and articles

• 2020 - The magic bercandeon First antology of scores for Bercandeon (DOREMIDOLARE strumenti per fare)
• 2022 - Una chitarra a colori - Guitar teaching method (DOREMIDOLARE strumenti per fare)
• 2019/2024 - Brescia insolita - Weekly column on history, art, music, folklore, 200 articles. (Bresciaoggi, Gruppo Athesis)