Paolo Angeli

Born in Sassari in 1970 and raised in Palau, Sardinia, Paolo Angeli has since the mid-1990s developed a practice at the crossroads of Sardinian traditional music, improvisation, avant-garde jazz, experimental folk and minimalist forms. A guitarist, composer and ethnomusicologist, he relies on a self‑designed ‘prepared Sardinian guitar’ — an extended instrument that allows him to coexist melodic lines, drones, rhythmic hits and noisy textures in a very distinctive solo playing. Having lived for a time in Bologna, where he studied at the DAMS and took part in the Laboratorio di Musica & Immagine, Paolo Angeli also nourishes his practice through research on cantu a chiterra and through a collecting project carried out for Archivio Mario Cervo. His discography begins with Dove dormono gli autobus in 1995, then Linee di fuga in 1997, followed by Bucato in 2003, which marks the start of a relationship with the ReR Megacorp label. Notable subsequent releases include Nita - L’Angelo Sul Trapezio in 2005, Tessuti in 2007, Tibi in 2010, Sale quanto basta in 2013, S’Û in 2015, Talea in 2017 and 22.22 Free Radiohead in 2019. Over the years, Paolo Angeli has also collaborated with Antonello Salis, Evan Parker, Ned Rothenberg, Hamid Drake or Takumi Fukushima, in contexts where contemporary creation, improvised performance and Mediterranean popular heritages meet.