PureVolume

Musician, concert promoter, producer, manager and impresario, Charles Carlini has synthesized these roles to become a dynamic force in the music industry--noted for his ability to bring diverse talent together to create innovative concerts and recordings that reach and move music-lovers everywhere. His recent tribute concerts in NY and LA to music giant, Les Paul, for instance, brought together artists like Slash, Peter Frampton, Alison Krauss, Jose Feliciano, The Steve Miller Band and Joe Perry. An upcoming CD for Sony BMG will celebrate the haunting sound of Ennio Morricone's film scores (The Mission, Once Upon a Time in America) through the artistry of legends like Luciano Pavarotti, Yo-Yo Ma, Celine Dion, Quincy Jones, Sting and Roger Waters. And another new album produced by Carlini and slated for release in 2006, vibrantly reinvents the post-Beatles songbook of Paul McCartney into the medium of jazz music.

/> Born in New York City in 1967, Carlini moved with his family to Sao Paolo, Brazil when he was an infant. The Brazilian beat found its way into his blood and back in Miami, Carlini began his musical education by learning guitar with his half brother (by Ida and Tito Puente) Richie Puente. "The Brazilian culture has always stayed in my subconscious and I have worked with a lot of Brazilian musicians over the years," Carlini says. "The music was a big part of my growing up in Brazil. So was Afro-Cuban music. Many great musicians came through Miami to visit my Mom, Ida Carlini, a professional dancer, including Joe Cuba, Dizzy Gillespie and of course, Tito Puente."

/> Charles founded the Carlini Group in 1995, a multimedia music concern that manages talent, produces and publishes music and brings artists together for extraordinary projects that have garnered praise from both critics and audiences alike. Artists the Carlini Group has worked with include: George Benson, Eumir Deodato, Keith Emerson, Rick Wakeman, Ann Hampton Callaway, Andy Summers, Milton Nascimento, Allan Holdsworth, Pat Martino, Ray Barretto, Ron Carter, Lenny White, George Coleman, Blossom Dearie, Mike Stern, John Scofield, and the Conga Kings (Candido Camero, Carlos "Patato" Valdes, Giovanni Hidalgo) among others. The Carlini Group has produced concerts all over the globe, both independently and in association with the JVC Festival.

/> One of Carlini's most widely lauded concert successes was the a 90th Birthday JVC Jazz Festival Tribute Concert for his friend Les Paul at Carnegie Hall in 2005. "Les is an American icon whose contribution reaches to all levels of music," says Carlini. "His 90th birthday was coming up. That couldn't be ignored. And it's always been a dream of mine to work with him. So I reached out to some of Les' friends and some of the artists he's influenced over the years to create a tribute concert worthy of his name." Some of the artists Carlini corralled for the concert included Peter Frampton, The Steve Miller Band, Edgar Winter, Jose Feliciano, Kenny Wayne Shepherd and the man himself, Les Paul. Called "a guitar lover's dream," by the Hollywood Reporter and praised by other publications like the New York Times, Newsday and Variety, the concert was a breakthrough achievement. A second tribute at the Gibson Amphitheater in Los Angeles brought similar rave reviews.

/> Carlini's skill at creating the synergy that brings musicians, venues and audiences together into projects that stir the imagination continues with his current plans to mount an all-star Tribute Concert to film composer legend, Ennio Morricone (Once Upon a Time in the West, A Fistful of Dollars, Once Upon a Time in America, The Mission). Some of the musical superstars already planned for participation in Morricone & Friends CD for Sony BMG, scheduled for release in '07 include Luciano Pavarotti, Sting, Roger Waters, Yo-Yo Ma, Celine Dion, Quincy Jones, Renee Fleming and Sarah Brightman. As producer, Charles Carlini is currently creating a post-Beatles, Paul McCartney musical anthology album, reinterpreted by McCartney's favorite jazz artists.

/> Through the Group's In Touch division, Carlini is mounting projects as wide-ranging as a documentary film on the music of the "Rumble in the Jungle" Zaire fight between Muhammad Ali and George Forman, downloadable e-albums, a music publishing group and the search for the raw talent to shape into tomorrow's musical movers and shakers. "We live in a global media marketplace," Carlini explains. "Once upon a time, music was like a college campus: all these departments that had nothing to do with each other The idea, today is to bring all these aspects of the industry together. E-music, film, live performance, music publishing, they are all part of the same process. It's the music we live for."

Leave a Comment

view all 1 photos

view all 1 posts