Ettore Salati is a guitarist involved in progressive rock. He's a session player, collaborates with musicians from the international prog rock scene and for many years has been into one of the most important prog-rock acts of nowadays, the band of The Watch; they released albums already considered classics, and they toured together all over the world, being on stage in the most important prog festivals.
He starts his path in music a child in Milan, where he's born on the 29th of April 1974, running his fingers on a piano with Mozart and Chopin the most. After some years, hit by Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, Genesis and in general by seventies' rock, he lets his piano down and begins to hold guitar.
At a first time he shoots pentatonic scales in blues venues in Northern Italy, then he starts his training with some famous italian guitar players; he graduates with full marks in modern guitar at
Lizard music school in Florence and begins his career as a session player and a guitar instructor. He opens his mind to different musical worlds, he studies jazz and advanced harmony, but appreciates psychedelia, R'n'B, fusion as well.
He teaches guitar in some music schools in Lombardy, contributes to the book "Scuola di Chitarra Hard Rock-Heavy Metal", published by
BMG, worldwide distributed and which sold nearly 20,000 copies till today. He is columnist with articles regarding guitar and music, writes soundtracks for tv programs and collaborates with national broadcastings for musical production and multimedia projects, including music for DVDs printed in over 50,000 copies. He plays in studio and live for pop artists like
Gemini and
Ombrechiare, with whom shoots a couple of videoclips, records the sound of his guitar for funk and dance productions, works with many vocalists, trios and ensembles, sometimes rather difficult to define. He's into the jazz-fusion thing performing with world-renowned musicians like
David Jackson,
Karl Potter,
Aldo Tagliapietra, and he brings his six strings on stages all over Italy with several bands in many different genres.
His never forgotten interest for progressive rock lets him meet
The Watch in 2000; with them he records "Vacuum", "Primitive", "Live Bootleg", and tours all over Europe, U.S. and Mexico. By January 2007 Ettore leaves the band, and works nowadays as a prog session musician, cutting his guitar tracks for progressive rock labels like
Musea and
Cypher Arts, and performing with keyboard virtuoso and composer
Alex Carpani, and with other italian prog rock musicians such as Atlantis 1001, Archangel and Alessandro Farinella.
His skill as a composer has recently come back as he's written the soundtrack for the theatrical piéce
RapSUDia 1935, directed by Max Vergani and produced by "La Dama", and instrumental tunes that could be defined a little-guitar-oriented (but only a little) fusion-prog ones. Produced at Highway Studio, they are the groundfloor for two new projects:
The RedZen and
SoulenginE, which will have the correct release soon. He proudly endorses
DG Pedals, custom stomp boxes and amplifiers.
Considered by specialized press among the followers of prog guitarist of the seventies like Steve Hackett and Robert Fripp, he's also been influenced by blues guitarist of the past, by great artists of jazz and fusion, and has a special glance for Hendrix, Jeff Beck, Jimmy Page and the great Allan Holdsworth as well. Even though he uses both his hands to let guitars sing, he finds time to use his feet to make the stage quake with bass pedals.
Ettore lives in Milan, and, beyond music, loves his motorcycle, his chinese sword and his trekking boots.
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