Dies Irae (15)

1969, four students from Monaco in the movement of May 68, decide to set up a group "to scream chaos, distress, apocalypse, revolt and hope." None of the kids ever touched a musical instrument. But passion wins, François Szönyi takes a guitar, Stéphane Szönyi his brother takes the bass, Guy Galassini starts on drums and André Frasseta takes charge of the second guitar. The four apprentices thus learn the practice of their instruments together, adding the mastery of piano, clarinet, saxophone and finally singing. In 1971, they give to La Turbie, in front of a little difficult public, their first concert: only covers of Cream, Hendrix, Deep purple, Triangle. Still amateurs, encouraged by this first attempt, they decide to develop their first compositions to move to the next stage. Guy's poems become songs, and in 1972 another saxophonist is added to the group. They will thus ensure a first part of Magma. Magma's covers, they will play many times thereafter, joining two other musicians and three choristers. In 1975, they participate in Drouot golf, unfortunately came from Nice, Guy is sick and André Frasseta blocked in transport. No matter, the band will play with only three of its members improvising for two hours, in front of an audience that asks for more, winning the prize. Dies Irae despite this beginning of recognition, will continue to give concerts in his region but will not succeed, certainly for lack of effective management and a lack of interest of the record companies, to increase its notoriety in the hexagon. In 1979, after ten years of existence tired by the galley, Monegasque musicians will throw in the towel. But the story does not stop there, François Szönyi who began to study classical guitar in 1976, the Rainier III Academy of Music in Monaco to improve within Dies Irae, decided to create the Aïghetta Quartett with Alexandre Del Fa and other musicians, a quartet of guitars that will often tour Germany and Italy. Their intimate music repertoire with personal transcriptions ranging from Telemann, Ravel, Bartók, Castelnuovo-Tedesco, Hindemith to the music of Spanish composers De Falla, Albéniz, Grandos to the music of the Renaissance arouses audience enthusiasm the most varied confirmed after more than twenty world premieres, and a dozen recordings at Universal, Harmonia Mundi, Musea, Nocturnal, etc ... Anthony Burgess, the author of Orange Mechanical will compose two titles for guitars and John McLaughlin invite them to play in the Time remembered group. At the same time, Dies Goa unites a jazz rock trio composed of François Szönyi (guitar, electronics), Alexandre Del Fa (bass, acoustic guitar) and Guy Galassini (drums, electronics). Training that occurs at the Nice Jazz Festival Off (2009-2011), at the Monte Carlo Jazz Festival (with Marcus Miller) in 2009, at Cap Jazz (with André Cecarelli), and at the Antichi Borghi di Liguria Festival (Italy) in August 2010 Then in Italy (Pescara, Arezzo, Rovigo, Verona, Padova) in 2011-2012 and as part of the Off d'Antibes-Juan les Pins in July 2013. The group returned to the studio in November 2013 to record an album Nothing has an end (from a quote by Alexandro Jodorowsky) that will be released in 2015. Year in which the band is starring John Sinclair ex bassist from Caravan and Hatfield and the north.