Paolo Conte Ala Scala

Paolo Conte is a 1984 eponymous album. This was pressed in Germany in 1995 by CGD

Paolo Conte has captivated audiences the world over for the past four decades. With his gruff voice and unmistakable style, he tells the tales of his humorous but poignant views of the world through his music. "Amazing Game" is the first-ever instrumental album by the Italian singer/songwriter and consists of recordings made at different times (from the ’90s to the present day), for soundtracks of theatre productions and for experimental purposes - all showing off his skills in improvisation.

Paolo Conte's music is hypnotic. Though I hardly understand a word of Italian, the combination of Conte's voice, rendition, melodies, and arrangement is spellbinding. My 12 year old son calls it 'deep music'. All in all, it is not as easy listening as 'Aquaplano' (one of Conte's albums) but ultimately at least as rewarding. The collection includes 'Sparring Partner' that my son and I played over and over during the first few weeks that we owned the CD. It was literally addictive. 'Via con me', 'Boogie', and the classic 'Max' are equally attractive. Other tracks, such as 'Ho ballato di tutto' require a bit more careful listening before they draw you in, and they will. This collection is a very good introduction to Paolo Conte's works. Highly recommended.

Psiche is the 13th studio album of Paolo Conte's 35-year career. Not exactly prolific, the former lawyer from Asti built an outstanding body of work between 1974 and 1990, but recorded sporadically after that. Like João Gilberto or Jimmy Scott, Conte is one of those artists who very early on created a unique style and persona, and never strayed too far from with it. Psiche thus resembles all of Conte's releases since 1992's 900: a set of 15 unimpeachable new songs that perpetuate the myth of Paolo Conte, but add little to it. This is not necessarily a bad thing, and Psiche is indeed a fine album. True, some may write off this record as an exercise in style.

Elegia was Paolo Conte's first proper studio album in nine years. At 67, no one could blame him if he decided to slow down a little. Yet, in the evidence of this fine album, it seems clear the reasons for such a delay had little to do with any lack of creativity. Instead, it was probably a consequence of Conte's growing international reputation (two acclaimed U.S. compilations, The Best of Paolo Conte and Reveries, were released during this period, and subsequently Conte added the U.S. to his already busy touring schedule), as well as the fulfillment of a lifelong ambition, the multimedia musical Razmataz.

Paolo Conte non ha mai amato definirsi ne raccontarsi o addirittura capirsi. Ripete sempre che uno dci privilegi dell'artista è quello di continuare a cercare (e di conseguenza cercarsi) sperando di non arrivare mai a un traguardo definitivo, perché allora non avrebbe più senso cercare. Ecco perché non ha mai voluto scrivere la sua autobiografia ufficiale. Paolo Conte lascia intravedere spiccioli di se stesso solo nelle banconote delle sue canzoni, nei testi che trasudano voglia d'altrove, pudore, umorismo, bellezza, foschia, pesci, Africa, sonno, nausea, fantasia…

Paolo Conte è un autore di culto, un genio della canzone che nell’arco di una carriera strepitosa è stato capace di raccontare storie in musica, dosando con sapienza le influenze jazzistiche e la tradizione cantautoriale italiana. I suoi pezzi sono gemme preziose, a volte assomigliano a dei quadri, altre a una fotografia, o alla scena di un film. Con i suoi successi è riuscito a imprimere nella mente degli ascoltatori immagini vivide e potenti, a rendere universali storie di provincia e a trascinare tutti noi, anche solo per un attimo, in una dimensione nuova, in un luogo dell’anima che non pensavamo di poter abitare. «Via con me», proprio come il titolo di una delle sue canzoni più celebri. Giorgio Verdelli questo lo sa bene, e così – dopo il successo del suo docufilm Paolo Conte, via con me – ha deciso di prendere per mano i lettori e accompagnarli alla scoperta «dell’atlante immaginario dell’anima…