Massimiliano Di Carlo is a polymathic artist, multi-instrumentalist, experimenter with the voice and with various compositional and improvisational languages, composer, ethnographic researcher, teacher of traditional music and overtone singing at the “Luisa D’Annunzio” conservatory of Pescara.
He creates new music, skilfully blending the ancient codes of orality and academic codes absorbed during his training, with the most current forms of experimentation.
He has brought his art to major theatres and cultural centres in Europe and beyond, including: Teatro Carlo Felice, Genova; Jazz Warriors, London; The International Museum of Music, Bologna; Radio television of the Italian Language in Switzerland (RSI), Cantiere Internazionale d’Arte, Montepulciano, Italy; Bunka Kaikan Metropolitan Festival Hall, Tokyo; Count Basie Jazz Club, Genova.
He has studied and collaborated with famous artists including: Tran Quang Hai, Amelia Cuni, Filomena Campus, Fatima Miranda, Angelo Tonelli.
“I found Massimiliano Di Carlo’s live performance very engaging. Closing my eyes during the listening, I was able to travel through sound and be transported to distant places, not exclusively physical ones. Places of the soul and mind that can only be accessed through certain sounds. I also deeply appreciate the genuine use of voice and instruments, which allows you to better understand a musician. It was an extremely fascinating experience.”
“I loved my grandmother Dilla’s singing (from San Paolo Albanese, an Arbereshe village in Basilicata) because it wasn’t a constructed voice; it was a simple voice that knew how to enchant you and take you to another dimension… it’s the same sensation I had when I heard Massimiliano Di Carlo sing and play, almost as if I were entering your world, your soul.”
“I’ve known Massimiliano Di Carlo for years, from his Berlin days, a fervent scholar and experimenter of old and new sounds from our lands, a passionate discoverer and rediscoverer of ethnomusicological traditions. I listened to Antro in this incredible live at RSI Switzerland, and I’m deeply grateful. The instruments and his voice take me far away, to the archaic initiation rituals of vanished civilizations, yet ones we need more than ever today. They reconnect me to the primal instincts of human essence, making me search for the ecstatic dance that leads to trance while I listen to them. A great spiritual experience. Thank you!”
“With the Antro project, the codes of a very specific language, the modal repertoire of the central-southern Apennines, meet the codes of jazz, even experimental jazz. The repertoire, composed of work songs, lullabies, and festive dance songs, thus has the opportunity to leave its cradle and travel around the world, as if it were an exportable language, understandable even to those who don’t know it closely. The challenge of Antro is to bring onto the stage a music that has nothing to do with the stage. One wonders if this is possible: can we propose music that is sung in fields or at festivals or during domestic rituals in a mass-media context focused on the spectacularization of the content? And if so, can it be proposed in a way that allows for a deep understanding? Based on the concert I heard, I’d say yes, it is possible, because the creator of the project, Massimiliano Di Carlo, has internalized that music to such an extent that he can now consciously propose it in another context, supported by musicians who honor the codes without distorting them, with masterful elegance. And yes, it is possible, because the three musicians are technically skilled enough to captivate the audience with the beauty and character of the sound they offer. And yes, it is possible, because in addition to the music, useful explanations are provided to place the event in a broader cultural context, within a shared experience that aims to be a natural continuation and expansion of what some simplistically call ‘tradition’.”
“The initial attack is immediately overwhelming; Massimiliano Di Carlo’s jaw harp, accompanied by percussion and double bass, immediately creates a primitive and powerful atmosphere. The further you go, the more you think of 1960s jazz, that new and driving energy born from African American musicians’ need to reconnect with their musical roots, freeing it in totally anarchic but deeply rigorous improvisations. What strikes you about the music of Antro is precisely this: the rigor of virtuosic musicians, liberated in a primitive chant. A freedom that blossoms from discipline and rigor, from knowledge, from care. And here, this music naturally reconnects with Raga, Flamenco, those musics firmly anchored in an ancient culture, which, precisely because of these solid roots, can soar and take flight without losing the way back. In this saved memory, a kind of universal art belonging to all humanity, precious and vital, every being recognizes itself. Thanks to the tender care of these roots, everyone briefly reconnects with the human value of beauty. So, thank you for these emotions, this beauty, this return ‘home’.”
“I had the pleasure of collaborating with Massimiliano Di Carlo in two seminars called Phonosfera, focused on Pythagorean wisdom, both theoretical and musical. I appreciated his deep expertise in oral tradition music, in phoné, and his virtuosity as a multi-instrumentalist. All of this flows into this live performance, harmonizing perfectly with the performances of the other musicians.”
“Yesterday, I managed to watch the first fifteen minutes, and I struggled to turn it off. Wonderful!”
“Your concert was very touching, a modern reinterpretation of Abruzzese songs and melodies that resonate with ancient chords of the soul, bringing us back to a past where ritual and connection with nature were for millennia an essential base of our life. A very intense and intimate concert in which each instrument tells a story in its own way. Hypnotic and transcendental melodies, a journey into a past world. Very interesting were also the introductions to the cultural and social context from which these melodies (and within which) originate.”
“The work Massimiliano Di Carlo has been carrying out for some years is very interesting and worthy of great attention. With a solid academic background (conservatory diploma in trumpet), Massimiliano is now carrying out with great care and sensitivity a reinterpretation of the oral tradition repertoire of central Italy, where banality is always absent.”
“I had the pleasure of attending the streaming concert ‘Antro’, performed by a group of Abruzzese ‘origin’, and I must say the event was not only an opportunity to immerse oneself in the rhythms and sounds of the South Italian tradition, but also a truly ritual moment of evoking ancient and current Mediterranean sounds. It was the presentation of Massimiliano Di Carlo’s first album, the leader of the group, a musician with a 360-degree approach, a multi-instrumentalist, innovative in vocal experimentation, ethnomusicologist, and field researcher. Along with musicians Gioele Pagliacia and Andrea Lamacchia, they created new and archaic timbral blends that magically captured the audience’s attention. The evocative sounds, inspired by oral tradition, the driving rhythms, and the vocal and instrumental patterns paid homage to the rich musical heritage of the central-southern Apennines, transporting us to a mythical place of transformation. Each piece seemed to tell a story, a deep connection with our culture, and the improvisation gave each performance an aura of freshness and spontaneity. The energy of the audience was palpable, and the interaction with the musicians made the atmosphere even more engaging. We hope to hear more new productions in the future!”
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