Mezzanotte Carlo

Born in Rome in 1959, Carlo Mezzanotte started playing the piano and writing music at a very early age. An eclectic musician curious of the most diverse music fields, he studied classical piano and composition at the S. Cecilia Conservatory in Rome, then pursued further composition studies under the guidance of Gino Marinuzzi Jr., a multifaceted musician in his own right, and a pioneer of electronic music during the fifties and sixties.

He then attended the electronic music courses at Centro Ricerche Musicali in Rome. At the same time, he refined his knowledge of jazz at the Jazz University in Perugia under Mike Melillo. He also studied “Contemporary Music Techniques” with Vinko Globokar at the Accademia di Musica di Fiesole, and with the "Diacronic Ensemble" won the International Contest "Città di Stresa" in the “Contemporary Music Section”, and subsequently participated in festivals and concerts in Italy and abroad.

He has to his credit about 15 CDs as leader or co-leader in the most diverse musical roles: Jazz pianist/composer, jazz and rock keyboardist, classical musician, electronic musician. Some highlights: The electric jazz group "Syntaxis" (three albums out, with a fourth in the works); "Indaco" with Rodolfo Maltese from the seminal prog rock band Banco del Mutuo Soccorso (five albums); the "Bach to the Future" project (classical music played with both the acoustic piano and electronics), several jazz records as composer and pianist. Among the most meaningful collaborations in different music genres: Lester Bowie, Frank Gambale, Al Di Meola, Maurizio Giammarco, Paolo Conte, Mauro Pagani, Enzo Gragnaniello and many others. He's also been involved in theater productions (Proclemer, Squarzina, A. Lionello, Gregoretti, Maestosi, Verdone etc.), as composer, arranger and pianist.

He wrote two short musicals for the MimoTeatroMovimento company. Furthermore, he has collaborated with Fiorenzo Carpi, Pietro Umiliani, Stelvio Cipriani, etc. He wrote pieces that have been performed in concerts and festivals (“Introduzione e danza” for clarinet and piano, "Tangoing" for woodwind quartet, "Rewind" for sax quartet and electronics, etc.). He wrote soundtracks and music libraries for the RAI network, and big companies like ENI/Agip.

In 1997 he received the Movie and TV Critics' Award for the short film "Alway(s) Night". As electronic musician, he's the author of solo performances of music with images, like "Il Ritorno alla Ragione (on Man Ray's surrealistic movies), "South" (about Shackelton's Antarctic expedition), and a series of improvised performances with acting and dance, on stage for two seasons at Teatro Argentina in Rome.