Luca Tihai Biography
Hi there,
Here's something about me:
I am a Mystic Guitar Athlete, also referred to as an acoustic guitarist and a music composer.
I was born in Padua Italy where I began to play the guitar at the age of five, embarking on a musical journey that allowed me to discover and understand a variety of different music genres and expressive systems. I have slowly tuned myself to the language of the Jazz-Fusion which provided me with a solid foundation and a valuable tool for my never-ending stylistic-sonorous research. Since the beginning my great passion for the acoustic guitar was clear and undoubted . I grew up with the turntable in my living room playing nonstop LPs such as: Friday Night In San Francisco as well as other famous records by John McLaughlin, Al Di Meola, Chick Corea, Ravi Shankar, Astor Piazzolla, Egberto Gismonti, Paco De Lucia, Stephan Micus, Stefan Grossman, John Renbourn...
That way of playing the guitar, so "guitaristic" , that approach to the improvisation and that style so open to the all world of music, at the same time extremely technical and extremely simple and humble, its been for me not only a reference point and a goal but a true identity, deeply internalized.
I had the chance to study with different maestros and to attend seminars in many part of the world. Experiences that provided me with the right background to get the most out of the collaborations I had with many musicians coming from other cultures and different music systems. It has also been really inspiring to duet with some skilled Oud players in Lebanon, meeting the Persian music by recording with Ranâ Shieh at the Kamânche and having the chance to study the Ukulele in Hawaii.
But undoubtedly the deepest and purposeful influence I had came from my personal and musical adventures in India. Place where I lived for about two years. I initially moved to the city of Varanasi to fully commit myself to the study of the Sitar and the Indian classical music, but I soon decided to transfer those techniques on the guitar to keep following that path with the instrument I am most comfortable with, always relying on the precious guidance of Pandit Shivnat Mishra and other teachers. http://www.music-of-benares.com
In the summer of the 2002 my meeting with the great sitarist Deobrat Mishra gave birth to the world music project Tihai and consequently to a number of fortunate shows in India and in Europe. In the 2003 the sound engineer-producer Mattia Berti Joined us in India to record and produce THE BET, the first album of the ensamble TIHAI that featured: Luca Tihai at the OM acoustic guitar, Deobrat Mishra at the Sitar and Mangala Prasad Mishra at the Tabla. TIHAI more info. In the 2004 the ensamble Tihai was enriched by the participation of world acclaimed talents such as Rupak Kulkarni at the Bansuri Flute, http://www.rupakkulkarni.com, and Aditya Kalyanpur at the Tabla, http://www.adityatabla.com. encounter celebrated in the fiery recording titled Hot Jam On Bombay Ground, Jam session that took place in a recording studio in Mumbai. To better duet with Indian Instruments as well as to fully utilize Indian classical music techniques on the guitar, in the 2002 with the collaboration of the luthier Roberto Lanaro I made a unique acoustic guitar, later baptized the OM guitar. The instrument features many technical alterations, among them I like to remember the addition of twelve sympathetic strings, a fully scalloped fret board and a 72 cm. diapason which allows to tune the guitar in D while keeping the same string dynamometric tension of a regular E tuned guitar.
In the summer of the 2004 while I was attending the Berklee Music School seminars in Perugia during the Umbria jazz festival, I was invited to duet and record with the guitarist David Beltran Soto Chero http://www.myspace.com/davidbeltransotochero at the Radio Montecarlo mobile studio. In the 2004 I have also composed and recorded for the album Biofonia by Paolo Avanzo. I also gained valuable experience in the field of soundtracks composition, I like to remember the music I realized with the collaboration of Paolo Avanzo for the short-film My father directed by Firos Kariman and the soundtrack Clouds Tales, produced with Mattia Berti featuring Paolo Avanzo at the Harmonic Singing and Bansuri flute.
I am currently busy promoting my new live solo project: Luca And The Loops - Tribute To The Maestros and I am also working and composing for a new studio album...
Here's something about me:
I am a Mystic Guitar Athlete, also referred to as an acoustic guitarist and a music composer.
I was born in Padua Italy where I began to play the guitar at the age of five, embarking on a musical journey that allowed me to discover and understand a variety of different music genres and expressive systems. I have slowly tuned myself to the language of the Jazz-Fusion which provided me with a solid foundation and a valuable tool for my never-ending stylistic-sonorous research. Since the beginning my great passion for the acoustic guitar was clear and undoubted . I grew up with the turntable in my living room playing nonstop LPs such as: Friday Night In San Francisco as well as other famous records by John McLaughlin, Al Di Meola, Chick Corea, Ravi Shankar, Astor Piazzolla, Egberto Gismonti, Paco De Lucia, Stephan Micus, Stefan Grossman, John Renbourn...
That way of playing the guitar, so "guitaristic" , that approach to the improvisation and that style so open to the all world of music, at the same time extremely technical and extremely simple and humble, its been for me not only a reference point and a goal but a true identity, deeply internalized.
I had the chance to study with different maestros and to attend seminars in many part of the world. Experiences that provided me with the right background to get the most out of the collaborations I had with many musicians coming from other cultures and different music systems. It has also been really inspiring to duet with some skilled Oud players in Lebanon, meeting the Persian music by recording with Ranâ Shieh at the Kamânche and having the chance to study the Ukulele in Hawaii.
But undoubtedly the deepest and purposeful influence I had came from my personal and musical adventures in India. Place where I lived for about two years. I initially moved to the city of Varanasi to fully commit myself to the study of the Sitar and the Indian classical music, but I soon decided to transfer those techniques on the guitar to keep following that path with the instrument I am most comfortable with, always relying on the precious guidance of Pandit Shivnat Mishra and other teachers. http://www.music-of-benares.com
In the summer of the 2002 my meeting with the great sitarist Deobrat Mishra gave birth to the world music project Tihai and consequently to a number of fortunate shows in India and in Europe. In the 2003 the sound engineer-producer Mattia Berti Joined us in India to record and produce THE BET, the first album of the ensamble TIHAI that featured: Luca Tihai at the OM acoustic guitar, Deobrat Mishra at the Sitar and Mangala Prasad Mishra at the Tabla. TIHAI more info. In the 2004 the ensamble Tihai was enriched by the participation of world acclaimed talents such as Rupak Kulkarni at the Bansuri Flute, http://www.rupakkulkarni.com, and Aditya Kalyanpur at the Tabla, http://www.adityatabla.com. encounter celebrated in the fiery recording titled Hot Jam On Bombay Ground, Jam session that took place in a recording studio in Mumbai. To better duet with Indian Instruments as well as to fully utilize Indian classical music techniques on the guitar, in the 2002 with the collaboration of the luthier Roberto Lanaro I made a unique acoustic guitar, later baptized the OM guitar. The instrument features many technical alterations, among them I like to remember the addition of twelve sympathetic strings, a fully scalloped fret board and a 72 cm. diapason which allows to tune the guitar in D while keeping the same string dynamometric tension of a regular E tuned guitar.
In the summer of the 2004 while I was attending the Berklee Music School seminars in Perugia during the Umbria jazz festival, I was invited to duet and record with the guitarist David Beltran Soto Chero http://www.myspace.com/davidbeltransotochero at the Radio Montecarlo mobile studio. In the 2004 I have also composed and recorded for the album Biofonia by Paolo Avanzo. I also gained valuable experience in the field of soundtracks composition, I like to remember the music I realized with the collaboration of Paolo Avanzo for the short-film My father directed by Firos Kariman and the soundtrack Clouds Tales, produced with Mattia Berti featuring Paolo Avanzo at the Harmonic Singing and Bansuri flute.
I am currently busy promoting my new live solo project: Luca And The Loops - Tribute To The Maestros and I am also working and composing for a new studio album...
Luca Tihai
Mystic Guitar Athlete
