On the occasion of his upcoming UK tour, we are delighted to welcome Italian pop, jazz and soul singer Mario Biondi to the Italian Institute of Culture in Edinburgh on Wednesday, 30th March 2022 at 11.30 am for a live interview with experienced Scottish music journalist John Dingwall. Mario Biondi will discuss his new album Romantic (2022), his music and career in Italy and abroad, before taking part in a Q&A with the audience. A reception with typical Sicilian sweet and savoury treats will follow.
Mario Biondi will be playing at theQueen’s Hall in Edinburgh on Wednesday, 30th March and at Saint Luke’s in Glasgow on Thursday, 31st March 2022.
Mario Biondi’s unmistakable deep voice is warm and sensual, yet clear and confident. Born Mario Ranno, he cultivated his passion for music from a young age, listening alongside his father, the singer Stefano Biondi, later making his stage name a tribute to him.
A vast range of experience has made Mario the great artist he is today. He has sung in church choirs, been a session singer for niche labels, without neglecting his studies and speaking perfect English although he is a born and bred Sicilian from Catania. A lover of soul music, in 1988 he began supporting artists of international standing, including some of the calibre of the legendary Ray Charles. But the turning point came with the Japanese release of his single This Is What You Are, heard by top BBC1 DJ Norman Jay, who fell in love with the song and launched it across Europe radio stations.
In 2006 Mario released his debut album Handful of Soul, recorded with the High Five Quintet. In less than three months it went platinum. In November 2007 Mario released a double album with the Duke Orchestra called I Love You More, recorded entirely live at the Smeraldo Theatre in Milan. Dragged by the success of the leading single Be Lonely, the album If (2009) shot up the charts and went triple-platinum.
The album Sun (2013) had an international mood and was produced by Biondi himself, with Jean Paul Maunick, aka Bluey, leader of the legendary British jazz band Incognito. On 10th May, Mario Biondi played at Royal Albert Hall with Incognito. Another hit, Love Is A Temple was taken from his studio album Beyond (2015).
The album Best of Soul (2016) celebrated Mario’s ten years in the business, paying homage to the genre of music of which the “Catania crooner” is Italy’s only performer worldwide. In February 2018, Mario Biondi made his first ever appearance at the Sanremo Festival with the song Rivederti. This intense, moving ballad is a sophisticated piece that honours the link between Italian singer-songwriters of the 1960s and the creators of the Brazilian bossanova (Antonio Carlos “Tom” Jobim, Vinicius de Moraes, João Gilberto), to whom the album Brasil (2018) pays homage.
On June 2019 Mario released the single Sunny Day with the jazz american artist Cleveland Jones and graced stages all over Europe and overseas. The record Dare (2021) tells the story of his career to date but also of how Mario will be in the future. It was elected as Album of the week by the iconic UK radio station Jazz FM.
Mario returns in 2022 with new album Romantic (out on 18th March), a project that combines romance in all its facets: there is the loving one, the brotherly one, the one related to the love for the family, for mother, for father, and obviously for our children… This record in some tracks reflects the sound and the spirit of the 70s, the years when music reminded us that war is only a source of pain. Everyone has a romantic streak and hopes that problems will be solved with common sense, with love for others, not with violence or hostility. The album includes collaborations with Maurizio Fabrizio and Lina Sastri and a cover song in Sicilian language, written by his father, Stefano Biondi.
John Dingwall is a Scottish-based news, music and entertainment journalist with a passion for the arts, travel and photography. Contributing to multiple national newspaper titles including The Times, The Herald, Daily Mail & Mail on Sunday, Express, Daily Record, Sunday Mail, The Sun and others.
Formerly 21 years as Music Editor and Features Writer at Scottish Daily Record, delivering thousands of exclusives. Highlights include travelling the world with the biggest names in entertainment – Annie Lennox in Malawi, Sir Paul McCartney in Mexico, Lindsay Lohan in Singapore, Rod Stewart in New York and Billy Bob Thornton in Texas, and more. Other notable interviews include John Travolta, Sir Roger Moore, Andy Murray and Victoria Beckham.
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