Karmablue

KARMABLUE is a musical project born as a concept in the mid 90's, from the collaboration between the author, composer and guitarist Giacomo Caruso, founder of STILL-LIFE, band of '80, the soprano Cristina Cappellini, the performer and experimental vocalist David Barittoni. Other musicians have collaborated with the original nucleus: Antonio Leoni (bass) and Sergio De Vito (piano) of the EPSILON INDI band, Massimo Nanni (bass), the african musician Bassidou Compaore (percussion and ethnical voice), Carlo Spagnoli (drums), Francesco Baldi (violin and keyboards) and Giacomo De Caterini for the supervision and artistic production. This musical group has dedicated itself essentially to the composition and recording of various tracks, culminating in the production of their first CD, called ERRATICO ESTATICO, published in 2002 by TOAST Records, an independent label of Turin (Italy). The tracks contain "in nuce" all the features of the current KARMABLUE sound, mixing rock and ethnic influences, electric sounds and Italian traditional melodic "bel canto". In march 1999, the meeting between Giacomo Caruso and the guitar and bass player Paolo Spetia provided new stimulation and ideas to the project, to deepen the musical research. In 2002, between September and December, KARMABLUE perform in Rome at Circolo degli Artisti and Alpheus, in a concert organised by Audiocoop Lazio, a musical association of which they are part. During 2003, a song from their first CD is selected as bonus track in a CD compilation, entitled Yatra, edited by the international organization Mani Tese against exploitation of juvenile work in the world, and published by the independent label TOAST Records, by cooperation with Audiocoop and M.E.I..In May 2003, at Alpheus in Rome again, KARMABLUE show their first CD and the compilation for Mani Tese. In September 2004, they released a performance, entitled INSILENZIO, based on their first work, with music, recitative and acting, by collaboration with the theater director Vania Castelfranchi and the woman writer Gloria Imparato. This performance is staged for the first time in June of 2005, and, later on, during all the first half of year 2006. In November of 2006, KARMABLUE show their second CD, entitled ACQUADANZE, released by their own label ATMAN Records, at Meeting delle Etichette Indipendenti in Faenza. In november 2006, at the Meeting of Independent Labels of Faenza, the band introduces his new CD, entitled ACQUADANZE, published through their label ATMAN Records, always with the artistic production of Giacomo De Caterini. The band is formed by Giacomo Caruso, guitars, Thomas Bugno, bass, Dario Amoroso, keyboards, Fabrizio Ferraro, drums, Ombretta Rosi e Giorgia Simonetti, vocals. Their music, in this period, is characterised by the extreme freedom in composition, continually oriented towards new ideas, a result of improvisation, with electric atmospheres, psychedelic echoes, by ethnic, blues and jazz influences and by a particular use of the voice. From 2007 to 2011, momentarily filed the experience KARMABLUE, Giacomo Caruso mainly devoted himself to the writing, publishing two poetry collections, intitled “Trasluce” and “Apparenze”. In 2012 the call of music does it stronger: Paolo Marini, already bassist and drummer in the first period of STILL-LIFE, convinces Giacomo Caruso to reform the band. Initially Paolo Marini involves in the band his sons Luca and Flavio Marini, respectively on bass and guitar. To the beginning they work on some old songs of STILL-LIFE, but almost immediately they take the road of creativeness, writing some new musical pieces that will meet in their third CD (“Né apparenze né comete”, that will give the title to the album, “Sogni”, “Karma Blue”, “Cristalli – parte III” and “Acrobati”). The sound of KARMBLUE suffers a definite genetic mutation, veering toward an oneiric prog sung in Italian. In absence of a true singer, Paolo Marini furnishes some valid vocal lines however. In 2013 Luca Marini leaves the band and he moves abroad to work. Contemporarily enters the band Dario Foschetti, historical guitarist of Nursery Cryme, cover band of Genesis, to recreate keyboard atmospheres with the use of guitar-synth. Flavio Marini momentarily leaves KARMABLUE for personal reasons. In november 2014, Giacomo Caruso involves in the band Simone Colaiacomo, bass and keyboards, known in 2010, at his book-signing (the novel “Bardos e la stirpe degli Enchil”). Now KARMABLUE are Giacomo Caruso e Dario Foschetti, guitars, Simone Colaiacomo, bass, Paolo Marini, drums. It begins the search of a female singer. In the summer 2015 Dario Foschetti leaves the band and he is replaced by Flavio Marini, which definitively reenters in the band. Despite the weary auditions, they don't find the female voice they are looking for. In absence of a vocalist, the musical pieces increase their complexity, with instrumental parts full of riffs, harmonic fineness and melodic interlacements. At the end of 2015, the vocalist Vera Perkins joins the formation. The band is finally complete. The vocal parts take form definitely. KARMABLUE can now work fully, to systemate the first five composed pieces of music, enriching and adapting them to the new formation, and creating others four (“Guerra degli dei”, “Mag-a-Lur”, “Astrimio” and “Solaris”, this last created from the five musicians together, with text cowritten with Simone Colaiacomo and arranged in melodic line by Vera Perkins), giving form and sound to the nine tracks that compose “Né apparenze né comete”, third album, always produced by the label Atman Records, again with the artistic supervision of Giacomo De Caterini, in distribution with Lizard distribution. With new formation - Vera Perkins, vocals, Giacomo Caruso, guitars, Flavio Marini, guitars, Simone Colaiacomo, bass, Paolo Marini, drums - the band plays a series of gigs and performances of theater-music (among which Teatro Orione, Teatro Ygramul), it participates in the format “Opening Act: 8 Tracks 4 Glory”, conceived by Marco Rò e Dario Falasca in collaboration with the WestRock Beer Pub; through the success of the crowdfunding campaign with Musicraiser, it publishes the new album. In the last months of the 2018 Vera Perkins leaves the band for personal motives. The very young Irene Caccavo becomes vocalist of Karmablue. The sonoriity of actual KARMABLUE, in continuous evolution, condense different stylistic influences – from Prog of seventies to post rock of nineties, with some hints of metal – in a true expressive explosion: the members of the group, embracing at least two generations, with their personal baggage, give form to an Art Rock made of music loaded of energy and rich of refined and meticulous arrangements. The introspective and intimist lyrics of Giacomo Caruso explore the great themes of human search: journey, love, war, death. For a long time KARMABLUE are an "open" group, a group “to varying geometry”, from two to ten musicians, adapting theirselves to circumstances, contracting to spread, crossing the musical creativity with performers, writers, actors, jugglers... with shining stubbornness of pursuing the unique aim of "making art" with music, to communicate energy and emotions, playing everywhere the opportunity presents itself, preferring unusual venues such as bars, libraries, shops, paint galleries or small theatres, giving life to performances and small happenings that create resonance and expectation.