The most surprising name is one of the biggest songwriters in Italian pop history, Claudio Baglioni. Baglioni's still going strong in Italy and has recently released a 3-CD live album titled Buon viaggio della vita, which also happens to be the name of the latest single he has released. Back on the Italian Sinfonia radio days, his biggest hit, Questo Piccolo Grande Amore, seemed to be requested on the radio program just about every week - almost as much as Tozzi's Ti Amo.
Baglioni will visit Toronto on Oct 6th and 7th, Montreal on the 12th and Tropicana in Atlantic City on the 13th and 14th. Visit the Italian Sinfonia events page for more details.
Zucchero returns with shows at the House of Blues on the West Coast and a show in Somerville, MA. No word on any NYC area shows yet. Zucchero always puts on a good show and is among the more reasonably priced Italian artists to see in this country because of the venues he performs in. Below is a classic video of one of his more well-known hits, Donne, which finished in almost last place in a very weak Festival di Sanremo in 1985. He performed the song with The Randy Jackson Band - yes, the same Randy Jackson from American Idol. Check out Randy's look from those days in minute 1:00 of the the Zucchero clip below.
Making what seems to be a bi-yearly stop in the US, Gigi D'Alessio returns, this time with sometime singing partner and fiance, Anna Tatangelo. Special this year are a couple of stops on the west coast including Beverly Hills and British Columbia.
All three of these shows involve artists still relevant on the Italian music scene; this is definitely a welcome happening for all North American musica fans.
Claudio Baglioni - Questo Piccolo Grande Amore
D'Alessio & Tatangelo - Un Nuovo Bacio
Zucchero & The Randy Jackson Band - Donne
