GIGI MORELLO’S CV
Gigi has been present in the musical scene as musician and music teacher, has drummed every kind of music, working with musicians of several nationalities and musical infuence playing live, in studio, theatre, Radio and Television. Starting professional career at 18, he has now experience in playing and teaching of more than a quarter of a Century.
MUSIC EDUCATION
He studied privately drum technique with Giorgio Gandino (Percussion Chairman at Teatro Regio di Torino), then he gets a degree under him at Civic School of Music of Turin, he studied privately with Bruno Astesana (Berklee Alumnus with honors) at the “Centro Jazz di Torino” and with Walter Calloni at “Centro Professione Musica”of Milan (CPM).
He also attended Music classes and Big Band style with Prof Marco Siniscalco (Berklee Alumnus), Alfredo Ponissi (famous Italian Jazz Sax Player, composer and arranger) and Tony Mimms (Composer, Orchestra Director and Arranger of some of the most known Italian Pop Artists of 1970-1980).
He studied theory and harmony with Prof. Bruno Astesana at the Civic School of Music of Turin.
He attended to several seminaries of known drummers in Italy and in the US where he lived from 2000 to 2006. He studied privately Advanced Groove Interpretation with Sergio Bellotti, Berklee Music College of Boston, Advanced Tenciques with Marco Minnemann and Soloing and Improvisation with Marko Djordjevich (Drummers Collective of New York). He studied the “freehand tecnique” privately with Johnny Rabb. And he studied with Dom Famularo, one of the greatest authority on Drum Tecnique Planetwide.
AS A DRUMMER
With the band “Clamour” he performed in italian TV shows such as Festivalbar, Sanremo Rock, Disco Verde, Freeshow Estate and various other television shows broadcasted on Italian TV stations such as RAI 1, 2 and 3, Canale 5, Italia 1 and others.
He performed live with the italian singer Claudio Baglioni and performed on tour with the singer/showgirl Jo Squillo.
As soloist drummer he performed at the Italian national television show “Partita Doppia”, under the direction of Pippo Baudo, along with the Orchestra of the RAI Italian Television, directed by Maestro Pippo Caruso.
He also played live at the “Gran Gala’ di RAI 1”, with the Big Band of RAI Italian Television.
With the Theatre troupe “Teatro Studio” he performed as musician and actor in the show “la Cimice” of Majakovsky.
He worked in several Italian recording Studios, as drummer, arranger and Sequencer/drum Machines programmer.
He has been the founder with the guitarist/composer Riccardo Moffa of the band “Con/Fusion Funk Quintet,” and with this band wins the contest “THE BIG OF TORINOSETTE” launched by the Italian newspaper “LA STAMPA”, scoring number one in the Jazz-Fusion field.
With this band he entered the top ten at the “GRAND PRIX DU FESTIVAL JAZZ” of Aosta and enters the final stage at the Jazz Festival of Prato.
Again with Con/Fusion Funk wins the “Rino Gaetano” Prize and plays to the show “TOUCH DOWN” aired by RAI Italian National television.
With Con/Fusion Funk Gigi he performed live on Italian TV RAI with Fabio Treves (number one of Italian blues), Italian Bass Player Stefano Cerri and other Jazz and Pop artists.
With this band also wins the Milan selection of the “First review of Instrumental Music” as the best instrumental group.
With the Italian singer Luca Strano he performed at the show conducted by Red Ronnie “Roxy Bar” on MTV.
For several years he plays in the latin band headed by Chico Moreno.
Gigi has only recently returned to Italy after a five years experience in the States where he has performed in Hollywood, Los Angeles, New York and San Francisco
Recently he has concencentrated his efforts on educations but nevertheless continued to play with famous italian musicians such as Max Marcolini (Zucchero’s guitar), Eric Daniels (Natalie Cole, Paul Young, Zucchero “Sugar” Fornaciari, Carl Anderson, Randy Crawford), Andrea Innesto (Vasco Rossi), Sergio Vastano (TV showman), Manolo (Gipsy King’s guitar) Alex Vaudano Band, and many others.
EDUCATOR
At the end of the Eighties he founds his Drum School, teaching Drums, reading and Polirythms Theory in several schools such as Dracma, Tenaxsound, Miles and Co, Rock Lab, Emergenza Musica, Rens Music etc.
In late 2009 opens up the GM Drum School, an ambitious project unique in Italy: a huge Drum School where the best teachers and drummers of the world can come and give a complete understanding of drums from all possible viewpoints and for every style.
GM Drum School io one of the few Italian school where you can learn correctly advanced tecniques such as heel toe, Flat foot, swivel tecnique, free hand tecnique, free stroke, push pull tecnique, moeller tecnique, Speed Development, Breakbeats, hybrid Rudiments, stickings, linear phrases etc.
The Drum School has several locations in Italy and the Central Headquarter that is devised to be the biggest Drum Teaching Structure in Italy, including 12 rooms, 18 Drumsets including 2 jazz and 2 double bass sets, Clinic Room, practice rooms, Theory Room, Electronic Room, recording studio, drum video recording facility, a room with mirrors and video recording of stick heights for drum tecnique etc.
The drum school features Italian and International events and Style lessons with some of the Best Drummers and Teanchers in the world and for Italy for each style and tecnique.
Gigi keeps a very busy schedule of Playing live and Drum Clinics Througout Italy, and as a tecnichal Translator for top International Drummers. He has been official translator for clinics of Jojo Mayer, Gavin Harrison, Dom Famularo, Gavin Harrison, Marco Minnemann and many others. He also writes about drums, drummers and tecnique on two Italian Drum Portals: “www.Drumsportal.com” and “www.Drummershouse.net”.
In 2013 He had a big Teaching chapter for 4 months in a row on the Italian Magazine “DrumsetMag”.
Gigi Morello endorses ED Drum Drums, UFIP cymbals, Vic Firth Sticks, Evans heads, Trick Pedals, Powerclick Amplifiers, HQ pads, Fulmine Drumming Shoes and Powerfeet trainers.
www.gigimorello.com
www.gmdrumschool.com
www.youtube.com/gigimorello
www.facebook.com/gigimorellodrummer
Direction, television broadcasts and cinema
Gigi entered almost for Fun in the field of television broadcasting as a director, and worked as a director on the television programs “Rock in Town”, “Tu Come Noi”, “Voice in Town” and other broadcasts broadcast on broadcasters of all ‘Italy.
He has worked in several Cinema / TV projects produced by the New York-based “SIlvio Sardi Communications”, the company that produced the Oscar-winning film “The City of God”.
He also participates in the initiative Against bullying “the world of hope” which includes the film of the same name directed by Ettore Pasculli and is the director of the music video “A World for Us” soundtrack of the film.
Solidarity
Gigi has been involved for years on the humanitarian front, actively collaborating in raising funds for various charitable initiatives with various charitable entities including “L’Albero di Greta” and the Italian Red Cross for which in recent years he has collected about 17,000 euros in favor of earthquake victims di Amatrice and several thousand euros in favor of the earthquake victims of Haiti and the homeless of Turin for the project “A Heart without a Cabin”.
He receives a commendation and two high commendations from the Italian Red Cross.
Politics
During the period of the 2020 Lockdown Gigi begins to take an active interest in politics, he first founded a protest group on Facebook that reaches a few thousand followers called “Alleanza Anti Casta”.
The group was after closed because the protest does not meet, according to Gigi, a complete solution to the Italian social problems.
On July 4, 2020 he founded the Political Movement “American Dream – Italian Americanist Movement and actively dedicates himself to a policy of the Center, according to the original principles of the American foundation, which Gigi proves to be ALSO Italian based on historical data. www.sogno-americano.it
Gigi Morello is currently active in politics that is close to citizens neglected by the government.
Writer and Journalist
Gigi has written as a Music Journalist on various national and local newspapers.
Gigi starts writing books in 2020, starting with a first book of short stories using a pseudonym.
This is followed by the “Anti Caste Alliance” and “Enlightened Enlightenment for Dark Times” Both published in 2020 and all available in print and digital versions on Amazon.
In 2021 he began collaborating with the international newspaper “The Epoch Times”, writing articles in the Italian language version of the Information Network.
LIST OF MUSICAL COLLABORATIONS
SINGERS AND POP MUSIC
Arturo Marongiu (AU)
Cico Cicogna
Clamour
Claudio Baglioni
Elena Roggero
Giacinto D’Assisti
Jo Squillo
Marco Pavone
Marco Terzolo
Umberto Jervolino
Ariel
Julia
Marco Carena
Paolo Mieli (I Quelli)
Alex Gaydou
JUNGLE- DRUM AND BASS
Junglematch
Nexus2
BIG BAND
Alfredo Ponissi Big Band
Big Band Centro Jazz di Torino
Orchestra del Centro Professione Musica di Milano
TEATRO
Teatro Studio
Assemblea Teatro
JAZZ- FUSION
Massimo Camarca
Art Colaianni
Claudio Chiara
Dario Chiazzolino
Nico Di Battista
Tony De Gruttola
Con/Fusion Funk
Debora Lombardo
Maurizio Maniglia
Gualtiero Marangoni
Luigi Martinale
Riccardo Moffa
Paolo Ricca
Stefano Cerri
Travel Agency
Mario Zara
Micky Bianco
ORCHESTRAL
Al Caprone Bang
Billi Spuma e I suoi Gassati
Discomania
Eden Band
Mauro Agus Orchestra
Tony D’Aloia
RHYTHM AND BLUES
Alfrenico Band
Supisu Blues Benz
Steve Mahal et Mamma Live
TRIBUTE BANDS
1/2morfosi (Tributo Sergio Caputo, Swing)
Deviazione (Tributo Vasco Rossi)
Europa (Tributo Europe)
Sugarlive (tributo Zucchero)
ROCK
44 road
Alex Vaudano Band
Camaleunti
Compagni di Merende
Figli di Guttuso
Glamorama
Luca Strano
Mao
Puzzle
The Big One
Trombe di Falloppio
Week End
Flying on Delta
LATIN AND MEDITERRANEAN
Brother and Sister
Carlos and Esteban Sabor Latino
Chico Moreno
Gino Latino
Mascarpone Latino
Salsa a la Noche
Trasluz
BLUES
Puzzle
Rockalacoque
Treves Blues Band (Fabio Treves)
Walter Serri
FUNK
Balla Coi Lupi
Winter Wonderland Band
METAL
Alchemist
Creeping Death
Dogma
Hammersmith
Slash
WORLD MUSIC
Ornowails
E.S.P.
JAZZ
Alessandro Bioli
Alfredo Ponissi
Felice Reggio
Flavio Boltro
Jazz Travelers
Max Carletti Jazz Trio
Paolo Porta
REGGAE
Tere Deni (Africa)
COUNTRY
The Fuse
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