Happy Birthday!

All of us at Un Po’ Di Zucchero wish the sugar man a wonderful 54th birthday!

Viareggio

The Viareggio benefit show of August 19 was a huge success: playing for over 15.000 people, Zucchero and his friends performed an excellent show. With Italian stars (including the great Pino Daniele, Irene Fornaciari and Andrea Bocelli) opening, and international superstars like Solomon Burke and Jeff Beck (who played Nessun Dorma as a tribute to Puccini) following, Zucchero was the last performer to take the stage for eight songs, many of which with guests. Diavolo in Me was performed with Solomon Burke, the Nomadi song Dio E Morto with Beppe Carletti, for Dune Mosse Zucchero was joined on stage by Jeff Beck, and Sting performed Every Breath You Take and Fragile, with Zucchero and, for the latter, with Jeff Beck.  Zucchero then closed the show with Cosi Celeste and Miserere.

Diavolo In Me with Solomon Burke

Dio E Morto with Beppe Carletti

Dunne Mosse with Jeff Beck

Fragile with Sting and Jeff Beck

Sting Added To Viareggio Tribute Show

According to Zucchero’s official website Sting will also perform during next week’s Viareggio concert. The list of performers now includes, amongst others, Andrea Bocelli, Jeff Beck, Pino Daniele, Solomon Burke, Irene Fornaciari, a large array of Italian singers, and Zucchero. Tickets are still available through www.ticketone.it.

Viareggio show: Jeff Beck and Pino Daniele added to guestlist

According to the website of the promoters of the Viareggio benefit show, to be held next week on August 19, two more major artists have been added to the guest list: Jeff Beck and Pino Daniele are now also scheduled to perform. They join an already impressive list that included many of Zucchero’s collaborators, including Solomon Burke, Andrea Bocelli, Irene Fornaciari, Derek Wilson, Mario Schiliro, and Max Marcolini. Tickets are only 22 euro and still available at ticketone.it.

Viareggio

Several names have been announced for the upcoming Viareggio show, proceeds of which will go to the victims of the train disaster of June 29. Aside from Zucchero, the biggest artists to appear are Andrea Bocelli, and Solomon Burke – both of whom of course have a long history of working with Zucchero. Also present from Zucchero-land: Irene Fornaciari, Mario Schiliro and James Thompson. Tickets are already on sale at Ticketone.it.

Viareggio Benefit Show / Mandela Day

On August 19, Zucchero will perform a beneft show at the Stadio dei Pini in Viareggio for the victims of the June 29 train derailment which cost the lives of twenty-eight people. Tickets are 22 euro and are on sale through ticket sites such as ticketone. It looks as though Zucchero will share the bill with several other artists, but no specifics are in yet.

Meanwhile, Zucchero’s last performance, at the Mandela Day concert in Radio City Music Hall in New York two weeks ago, was a huge success. Sharing the stage with stars such as Stevie Wonder and Aretha Franklin, Zucchero performed You Are So Beautiful.

Mandela Day / Sting

Tomorrow Zucchero is scheduled to be one of the performers during the Mandela Day concert in Radio City Music Hall in New York City. Tickets are still available. However, the show will also be shown live on the Mandela Day website in two formats: a free broadcast, and an On-Demand broadcast (for only $5, with all proceeds going to the 46664 anti-AIDS campaign).

This week, Zucchero also made an appearance during the Ischia Global Fest with his friend Sting, performing a duet version of Sting’s Every Breath You Take, and a solo You Are So Beautiful.

Live in Italy: US release

Live in Italy, the 2 cd / 2 dvd live package released in Europe last year, will be released in the United States on the Verve Music label on August 4 as a 1 cd / 1 dvd set. The tracklist will be as follows:

CD

01 Dune Mosse
02 Occhi
03 Quanti Anni Ho
04 Bacco Perbacco
05 Un Kilo
06 Cuba Libre
07 L’Amore E Nell’Aria
08 Il Volo
09 Diamante
10 Cosi Celeste
11 Baila (sexy thing)
12 Overdose (d’amore)
13 Il Mare…
14 It’s All Right
15 Indaco Dagli Occhi Del Cielo
16 Nel Cosi Blu
17 Diavolo In Me

DVD
01 Dune Mosse
02 Occhi
03 Quanti Anni Ho
04 Bacco Perbacco
05 Un Kilo
06 Cuba Libre
07 L’Amore E Nell’Aria
08 Il Volo
09 Diamante
10 Cosi Celeste
11 Baila
12 Overdose (d’amore)
13 Il Mare
14 Indaco Dagli Occhi Del Cielo
15 Nel Cosi Blu
16 E Delicato
17 A Wonderful World
18 L’Urlo
19 Con Le Mani
20 Solo Una Sana
21 Diavolo In Me
22 Senza Una Donna
23 Madre Dolcissima
24 You Are So Beautiful
25 Wonderful Life
26 Miserere

Mandela Day Concert in New York

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On July 18 Zucchero will join many other major recording artists, among them Stevie Wonder, Aretha Franklin, Dave Stewart and Alicia Keys, for a celebration of Nelson Mandela’s 91st birthday in Radio City Music Hall in New York. The concert is part of the 46664 campaign to raise awareness and money for the fight against HIV/AIDS in Africa. Zucchero has been an active supporter of 46664 since the first concert in 2003, appearing at shows in South Africa, Spain, Norway, and most recently last years concert in Hyde Park, London. For tickets and more information about the show and how you can support the 46664 campaign visit the website above.

Oro Incenso E Birra: 20th Anniversary

Yesterday marked the anniversary of one of Zucchero’s classic albums: in 1989 Oro Incenso E Birra became a smash hit, first in Italy, but soon also in the rest of Europe. Whether one considers Oro Zucchero’s best album or not, it’s practically impossible not to have it in the top 3: with the exception of one, perhaps two, songs, Oro Incenso E Birra’s entire tracklist consists of songs that generally make up Zucchero’s best of albums: Diamante, Diavolo In Me, Overdose D’Amore, Wonderful World, Madre Dolcissima, Il Mare and Iruben Me, all were original songs on this album, and all are amongst the most well known, and best, Zucchero songs.

The greatness of Oro’s success lies in the fact that it was both a major commercial (with several million copies sold in Italy alone) but also an artistic triumph. Recorded in Memphis, New York and Italy, produced by Corrado Rustici, and featuring Zucchero’s band from the Blue’s tour, as well as an exceptional guestlist (Eric Clapton, Ennio Morricone, David Sanscious, Clarence Clemmons, Jimmy Smith, Rufus Thomas), Oro was the next (and better) step in the experiment of combining Italian melodies with American soul and rhythm and blues, which Zucchero had started with the Rispetto and Blue’s albums.

The result, a tight band sound on up-tempo songs like Overdose D’Amore and Il Mare, combined with Zucchero’s trademark ironic (and, in the case of Il Mare borderline pornographic) lyrics, as well as the lucious sound behind the beautiful Diamante (with lyrics written by Francesco de Gregori and music by Matteo Saggese, Mino Vergnaghi and Zucchero), was a pleasant surprise to older fans, but even more so to the many new fans that came to Zucchero’s music through it. Despite its two decades of existence, Oro Incenso E Birra remains very much alive: during last year’s All The Best tour, the regular setlist included five Oro songs, with two others frown in from time to time.