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Thursday, October 2, 2008 at 8 PM
Massey Hall
$69.50 - $49.50
Call 416-872-4255 or online at
www.roythomson.com
or visit the Roy Thomson Hall Box Office
Last at Massey Hall in October 4 of 2007, Zucchero, the Italian
superstar returns to Toronto with his raucous mixture of soul and
rhythm & blues and an offering of his very best hits. He is on
the "All the Best" tour, to promote his latest album of the same
name.
Adelmo Fornaciari was born in Roncocesi, Italy. His pseudonym "Zucchero",
meaning 'sugar', has been his nickname from a very young age, and
was given to him by an elementary school teacher who said he was
as sweet as sugar, calling him "marmellata e zucchero" –
'jam and sugar'. After five years in California, in 1989, Zucchero
and his band recorded the album Oro, incenso e birra in Memphis.
The album, which is greatly influenced by American soul music, included
guest appearances by Eric Clapton, and blues singer Rufus Thomas,
while Zucchero's band by that time included former E-Street band
member David Sanscious. Oro, incenso e birra still stands
as one of Zucchero's most successful albums, and includes the Italian
hit singles "Diamante", "Overdose (d'Amore)", "Il Mare" and "Wonderful
World". In 1988 Zucchero began translating his songs to promote
his music abroad. The album Blues was released the following
year in the UK, and in 1990 Zucchero Sings his Hits in English
was released worldwide. In 1989 he continued singing with Joe Cocker
and also performed with Miles Davis. In the famous Arena di Verona
he performed with Dee Dee Bridgewater and with Ray Charles.
Zucchero is probably best known internationally for the song "Senza
una donna" ("Without a Woman), which later became a duet with Paul
Young and a hit in the latter's native United Kingdom. The song
was a great success worldwide, reaching number 1 in most European
charts. Between 1991 and 1993 Zucchero continued duetting
with some of the world’s most famous artists, such as Sting, Luciano
Pavarotti, a young Andrea Bocelli, Peter Maffay, Elton John, Brian
May and Eric Clapton. Many of these duets would later be included
in the compilation Zu & Co. (2004). The album Miserere
(1992) was released worldwide, available in both Italian and English
versions. His music is largely inspired by gospel, blues and rock
music, and alternates between ballads and more rhythmic boogie-like
pieces. European hit singles include "Il volo" (English version:
"My love"), "Così celeste", "Baila (sexy thing)", "Diamante" (original
Italian lyrics co-written with Francesco De Gregori, foreign version
featuring soul singer Randy Crawford) and "Wonderful World" (with
Eric Clapton).
In July 2005, Zucchero took part in the Live 8 concerts in
both Rome and Paris. In September 2006 his latest album, entitled
Fly, was released. Produced by Don Was, it includes the singles
"Bacco perbacco", "Cuba libre" and "Occhi" and features collaborations
with artists such as Ivano Fossati and Jovanotti. The album's track
"L'amore è nell'aria" ("Love Is In The Air"), borrows the instrumental
backing to the b-side "Broken" by UK rock band Feeder, but it is
a new recording based on the Feeder original rather than a sample
taken directly from the recording.
Co-presented with CHIN Radio.
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