Roberto Battista, electric, acoustic, fretless, e-bowed and looped guitars and electronics. [+ video, photographs and words] Anahimé, voice, samples, piano and electronics.[+ video, illustration and acting] Pete Marsh, double bass, bass, slide guitar, samples, keyboard
Regular and occasional guests including Renu, Davide, Ralph, Wendy, Andrew, Matt, Roberto, Julia, Alice...
See the Art Tracks project and Robat music pages for more details and free download of all the tracks from "so close so far" and "a wobbly walk with a spring-loaded friend" - if you use any of the tracks or parts of please credit accordingly and let us know.
Influences
The sound of this planet and beyond, the sound of nature, the sound of mind, body and soul, the ancient traditions and what still needs to be invented.
...and if you really want some names (free to shuffle them around)...
:: Adventures in new music with no borders:
Henry Cow, Michael Gordon, Carla Kihlstedt, Phillip Bimstein, The Books, Ori Kaplan, Goran Bregovic, Ensemble Modern, Conlon Nancarrow, Steve Reich, Vienna Art Orchestra, Electric birds, Topology, Bill Frisell, Uri Caine, Carlos d’ Alessio, Jürgen Knieper, Laurie Anderson, Amy Denio, Nick Didkovsky, Marc van Vugt, Bang on a Can, Carl Stone, David Lang, Frank Zappa, Maya Beiser, Michael Torke, Meredith Monk, The Tiptons, Tin Hat, John Adams, Fred Frith, Kronos Quartet, Arnold Dreyblatt, Paul Lansky, Michael Lowenstern, Ethel, Phil Dadson, Phil Kline, Margaret Leng Tan, Robin Cox, Noah Creshevsky, Chris Cutler, Eve Beglarian, Iva Bittova...
:: The soul of the Mediterranean:
Luigi Cinque, Paolo Angeli, Banda Ionica, Mercan Dede, Erik Truffaz, Ojo De Brujo, Dhafer Youssef, Stellamara, Omar Farouk Tekbilek, Lazlo Hortobagy, Marcel Khalife, La Xula...
:: A touch of Klezmer and Eastern European colours:
Naftule's Dream, Koby Israelite, Jon Madof, Hasidic New Wave, Don Bryon, Klezmatics, Tim Sparks, Jenny Scheinman, John Zorn, Gary Lucas, David Krakauer, Margot Leverett, Paradox Trio, Nano Peylet, Pharaoh's Daughter...
:: A moment in the XXth century:
Frank Zappa, King Crimson, Robert Fripp, Gentle Giant, Van Der Graaf Generator, Nucleus, Centipede, Joni Mitchell, Jimi Hendrix, Robert Wyatt, Henry Cow, Slap Happy, Hatfield and the North, John Surman, Nico, Brian Eno, David Sylvian, Eurythmics, Lounge Lizards, Talking Heads, Residents, Terry Riley, Tuxedo Moon, Traffic, Gong, Steve Hillage ...
:: Turning the classical upside down:
Stravinsky, Janacek, Bartok, Satie, Gershwin, Gorecki, De Falla, Villa Lobos, Copland, Ives, Feldman, Pärt, Debussy, Shostakovich, Barber, Carter, Enescu, Weill, Martinu, Nino Rota...
...and then there are jazz and film scores, the circus and street brass bands, and ... oh well
Sapphire Star, music by Lola Perrin, film by Roberto Battista. We are looking for ensembles interested in performing Sapphire Star and would be curious to hear it in different versions, from a string quartet to a marimbas combo, from a brass street band to a group of toy pianos... the score is available for interested performers.
For more music videos check the video link at the top of this page.
A rare occurrence of Roberto playing acoustic, from one of the Salotti Musicali, 2006, in the context of Chimera, a visual arts exhibition organized in London by Annabelle Moreau, a very special artist to whom the song is dedicated.
More video excerpts from the live Salotti musicali in the video link at the top of the page and at Robat site
Crossing the border, portion of a trailer for a film made by Roberto to document composer Roland Perrin's trip to Havana, Cuba, in 2005 to rehearse and record his latest concerto with an "ad hoc" ensemble with classical musicians from the Orquestra Sinfonica Nacional and popular and jazz musicians.
For the full trailer go to the video gallery in Robat site
Sounds Like
I depends by the mood of the day.. you can hear many more tracks in theRobat site and, while you are here, you can also check the video area with recordings from some of the live gigs of the Salotti musicali (at Chimera) and the Guitar trio (with Chris Jones and Simon Hopkins) as well as the trailer for Seckou Keita's quartet documentary in West Africa, Lola Perrin's stage movies, Roland Perrin's latin American project.
[the page background is a scribble my son Joshua made when he was two... it makes me think of the lively network connecting my friends all over the world].
... a small selection from my image archive ... Don't miss the movies in the video section, there is a lot of music there too, improvisations at one of the Salotti Musicali, one of the videos on Lola Perrin's music and a trailer for a music film in Senegal and Gambia as well as one in Cuba.
A bit of history:
In the early 60s my father brought home the original recording of West Side Story, and with that he opened for me a door into the borderless world of a new generation of music, one that could integrate unlikely styles and traditions in organic marriages and hybrid cross-breeding of unlimited creative potential.
Then came Bartok's Microkosmos, Ives' Holiday Symphony, Stravinsky's Persephone and Hungarian Gypsies, Nino Rota's soundtracks for Fellini's films, Moroccan voices and Indian tablas, Persian Ouds and Frank Zappa's early works, the Henry Cow's summer tours of Italy ... too late to stop, I was hooked!!
Throughout the 70s and 80s I played with many different bands in Italy from an acoustic large ensemble mixing ethnic influences from India and the Middle East with the ironic spirit of Frank Zappa and folk-inspired architectures modelled on Bela Bartok with the cyclic structures of Terry Riley.
Then a band clearly inspired by King Crimson and British prog-rock, yet another playing a very acid violent and aggressive jazz, one that creating absurdist performances inspired by Dada and Surrealists and one that did some sort of jazzy funk mix of Miles Davis and Nino Rota... well, just about as much of a mix as we could think of...
After a number of years of musical inactivity (1987-1997), years spent mainly doing other creative work in film, photography and multimedia, I have returned to music with solo performances, mainly in London, based on looped guitars and also organising musical gatherings (the Salotti Musicali) where I invite diverse musicians for improvised performances, usually in the context of art events.
I also work at BBC Radio 3, the right place for music with no borders, while developing a project that mixes music, acting and storytelling with singer and visual artist Anahiméand a number of brilliant guest musicians, above all the multi talented multi instrumentalist Pete Marsh.
I have also made two short films on the music of composer and pianist Lola Perrin, part of a series by various authors that Lola uses in her live performances, and a television documentary in cooperation with artist and film-maker Katia Beltrame on the Seckou Keita's quartet tour of Senegal and Gambia, one of a series of films on music around the world...
Always eager to share ideas and experiences, I am happy if these pages lead you somewhere interesting and to some fruitful cooperation, do get in touch with proposals for projects and creative initiatives if you feel like.
Roberto
Roberto Battista's Salotti Musicali's Friend Space (Top 39)
Roberto Battista's Salotti Musicali has 332 friends.
Hello from the amazing windy plains just outside Calgary , Alberta (weather subject to change on the 1/2 hour with out notification) Wonderful sites and sounds in your space.Many discoveries made at your space, very nice indeed to be m8s.Cheers ! (mO:) moreno
In a act of Kindness endorphin levels are elevated in the Giver, the Receiver and the Observer, how nice is that.
"do not seek happiness .. but .. do rid your self of unhappiness = Zero Negative thoughts"
"Share knowledge ,it is a way to achieve immortality"
Ciao Roberto come stai? che aria tira a Londra? Io sto per andare in studio per registrare un lavoro con Roedelius...e intanto ho registrato un cd dedicato alle Sonate di Baldassarre Galuppi che sarà prodotto dall'etichetta americana Transparency. Se vuoi qui puoi ascoltare un'anteprima: http://chillroom. podomatic. com/entry/2009-02-07T23_38_28-08_00
Hi Roberto ! also Julian and the Jazzmonk get a kick out of your pic ... like Drum'n'Bass it does NOT " repeat in a banal fashion " as mis-reported in the Daily Mail ; but hopefully it WILL cause house prices to crash ,so that I can regain Bourgeois status ...Ha ! xx
