Considered by industry critics as one of the most brilliant Brazilian guitarists, Antonio Tarantino was born in San Paolo Bel Sito, in the province of Naples. Teacher, interpreter and composer of Brazilian and nuevo flamenco music, Tarantino is a Master's Degree in classical guitar and his musical interests also range from classical music to pop-rock, from Neapolitan music to Portuguese fado, from fusion to Latin-jazz. "Imagens do Brasil" and "The Brazilian guitar" among his latest highly successful productions.
Passion for Brazilian music and flamenco
He lived for about 15 years between Piedmont and Lombardy where he had the opportunity to deepen his knowledge of Brazilian music through research, scores, listening to records and continuous cultural exchanges with Brazilians who lived in Italy. As for flamenco, especially the modern one, it was assimilated through the study of recordings from all over the world and thanks to a continuous technical study that led him to experiment with new ways of playing flamenco guitar hitherto unusual.
A passion that Antonio Tarantino develops from a very young age, already around the age of 6 listening to the songs of one of the most famous and refined Italian singer-songwriters, Battisti. Then around the age of 15-16, thanks to listening to the records of Baden Powell, Toquinho, Joào Pernambuco, Paulinho Nogueira, Paco de Lucia. Al Di Meola, John McLaughlin.
The career of a multifaceted guitarist
Following the 2nd level academic diploma in guitar at the Naples Conservatory, Tarantino continues his prolific career with an intense concert activity both as a soloist and as a member of musical groups, specializing more and more in Brazilian music. Enough to publish articles, methods, compositions, MC, CD, VHS and DVD of Brazilian-flamenco guitar for record companies, publishers, magazines (Armelin Musica, Bèrben, Berimbau, Eco, Fingerpicking.net, Guitar Club, Guitar Media Collection, Intra's, Nuova Carisch and Sonitus) and self-production.
He is also one of the most prolific Italian guitarists from an editorial point of view and his works have been sold all over the world. He has collaborated with Alex Britti, Nino D'Angelo, PFM, Pooh and Toquinho. He teaches in important music schools, has participated in important radio and television broadcasts (Radio Uno, Oto Radio in Paris, Rai Uno, Canale 5, Videomusic) and has shared the stage with some of the greatest guitarists in the world such as Tommy Emmanuel , Larry Coryell, Marcel Dadi, to name a few.
The link with Italy and its Italian fans
Although Antonio Tarantino's music takes him beyond national borders, the relationship with Italy and his fans is excellent, in fact there are many, professionals in the sector and not, who follow him with pleasure. The guitarist has often said he was struggling over whether to go to live in Brazil or whether to stay in his native land, in the end the latter prevailed, to stay. And he did it for a very specific reason: because he was convinced that Brazilian culture should be brought to Italy and not to Brazil where it is already present. His music becomes the means through which to unite two geographically distant countries: Italy, a land that always remains in the heart and whose call is difficult to resist and Brazil.
Tarantino is able to tell the green-gold country like few others, without losing its Italian roots and influences, putting in it the well-known passion typical of Italians and appreciated all over the world, but above all by becoming the spokesperson of a double culture that makes it the flagship of this style and a pride for all Italians, whether they are in San Paolo Bel Sito or São Paulo do Brasil.
I upcoming projects in Italy
On 23 September a CD produced by the music and record editions Videoradio was released with the title Brazilirissimo and available on all digital stores. A CD in which the soul of Brazilian Popular Music prevails through the interpretation of choro, bossa nova and samba. All masterfully made with his very personal and brilliant way of interpreting this specific musical genre, but integrating it with some compositions created with the style of the modern musician who looks to traditional Brazilian music.
Furthermore, starting from September 2017 Tarantino began an important collaboration with the monthly magazine Acoustic guitar, with articles on the guitar in the new flamenco.
