Giuseppe Daniele (19 March 1955 – 4 January 2015), known as Pino Daniele, was an Italian singer, songwriter and musician. His influences covered a wide number of genres, including pop, blues, jazz, and Italian and Middle Eastern music.

Biography

Daniele was born to a working-class family in Naples, his father being a harbor worker. A self-taught guitarist, he began his career as a musician playing for other successful singers of the 1970s. His debut in the Italian music world was in 1977 with the album ''Terra mia'', which proved to be a successful mix of

Neapolitan Neapolitan means of or pertaining to Naples, a city in Italy; or to: Geography and history * Province of Naples, a province in the Campania region of southern Italy that includes the city * Duchy of Naples, in existence during the Early and Hig ...

tradition and Blues sounds. Daniele defined his music with the term "tarumbò", which indicated a mix of tarantella,

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...

and rumba. His lyrics also attracted critical praise: written and sung in an intense

, they contained strong and bitter accusations against the social injustices of Naples, as well as Italian society in general, and included melancholic personal themes. Several of the later songs are characterized by a free intermingling of English, Italian and

passages. Daniele's talent was confirmed on the following album ''Pino Daniele'' (1979). He scored his greatest success in 1980, with ''Nero a metà'' ("Half-Black Skinned"), which was noted by some authorities as the hallmark of the rebirth of Neapolitan song. In that year Daniele opened the Bob Marley concert at the San Siro stadium in Milan. In 1981 ''Vai Mo'' was released. The presence of some of the most renowned musicians of the Neapolitan musical milieu, including

James Senese Gaetano "James" Senese (born 6 January 1945) is an Italian saxophonist, composer, and singer-songwriter. Life and career Senese was born in Naples, the son of Anna Senese and James Smith, an American soldier from North Carolina in Italy because ...

Enzo Avitabile Vincenzo "Enzo" Avitabile (born 1 March 1955) is an Italian saxophonist, composer and singer-songwriter. He plays a fusion of world music and jazz fusion music, rooted in Neapolitan traditions and characteristic dialect. Born in Naples, Italy, A ...

, Tullio De Piscopo and Tony Esposito, as session men on his albums has also been widely praised. In 1982, Daniele shifted to a personal and early version of world music: in ''Bella 'mbriana'' musicians such as

Alphonso Johnson Alphonso Johnson (born February 2, 1951) is an American jazz bassist active since the early 1970s. Johnson was a member of the jazz fusion group Weather Report from 1973 to 1975, and has performed and recorded with numerous high-profile rock and ...

and Wayne Shorter appeared as guest players. In the following year Daniele held a concert in Havana, and later formed a Latin-American band. In 1983 Daniele collaborated with the American singer/guitarist

Richie Havens Richard Pierce Havens (January 21, 1941 – April 22, 2013) was an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. His music encompassed elements of folk, soul (both of which he frequently covered), and rhythm and blues. He had a rhythmic guitar style ...

on '' Common Ground'', an album written and played together. His interest in Arabic music is emphasized on ''Bonne Soirée'' (1987), while the subsequent ''Schizzechea With Love'' (1988) was more Mediterranean-oriented. In the same year he started a collaboration with the Italian actor and director

Massimo Troisi Massimo Troisi (; 19 February 1953 – 4 June 1994) was an Italian actor, cabaret performer, screenwriter, and film director. He is best known for his works in the films '' I'm Starting from Three'' (1981) and '' Il Postino: The Postman'' (1994) ...

: Daniele completed the soundtracks for Troisi's films '' Le vie del Signore sono finite'' and ''

Pensavo fosse amore invece era un calesse '' Pensavo fosse amore, invece era un calesse'' (''I thought it was love, but it was a barouche'') is a 1991 Italian romance- comedy drama film. It is the last film directed by Massimo Troisi. For his performance Angelo Orlando won the David di ...

''. ''Non calpestare i fiori nel deserto'', released in Spring 1995, is an attempt to revive inspiration through African and Ethnic influences, and sold more than 800,000 copies. The subsequent tour ended with a double date with Jazz guitarist Pat Metheny. In 2010, Daniele played at Crossroads Guitar Festival, called by his friend

Eric Clapton Eric Patrick Clapton (born 1945) is an English rock and blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He is often regarded as one of the most successful and influential guitarists in rock music. Clapton ranked second in ''Rolling Stone''s list of ...

at ''Toyota Park'' in Chicago, playing with Joe Bonamassa and Robert Randolph. In 2011, he performed in concert with Clapton at Cava de' Tirreni stadium. Daniele died of a heart attack on 4 January 2015, at

Sant'Eugenio Hospital Sant'Eugenio Hospital is a hospital located in Rome, Italy. It is one of the largest hospitals in Central Italy. The construction of the hospital began in 1933, during the fascist period. The original project, curated by Gaspare Lenzi, Luigi Le ...

in Rome.

Covers

Many artists recorded cover versions of Pino Daniele's songs: among others, Sarah Jane Morris (''Alleria'' on album

Cello Song ''Cello Song'' is an album recorded by the cellist Julian Lloyd Webber in 1993 for Philips. Track listing # ''Song of the Black Swan'' by Heitor Villa-LobosFilmed Performance # ''Cantata BWV 156 Adagio'' by J.S. BachFilmed Performance # ''Sea Mu ...

), Randy Crawford (, in English ''It's Raining'', on album Through the Eyes of Love), Patricia Marx (, in Portuguese , on album Charme do mundo), Marisa Monte (''E po' che fa'', in Portuguese ''Bem que se quis'', on album MM), and Issac Delgado (Quando, on album Malecon).

Discography

Studio albums

Compilation albums

Live Albums

Soundtracks

* 1988 – ''Le vie del Signore sono finite (album), Le vie del Signore sono finite'' (EMI Italiana, 50 7900981)

Singles

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Daniele, Pino 1955 births 2015 deaths 20th-century Italian guitarists 20th-century Italian composers 20th-century Italian singers 21st-century Italian guitarists 21st-century Italian composers 21st-century Italian singers EMI Records artists Italian male guitarists Italian male singers Italian male singer-songwriters Italian multi-instrumentalists Italian jazz guitarists Italian jazz singers Italian pop guitarists Italian pop rock singers Italian pop singers Italian rock guitarists Italian rock singers Nastro d'Argento winners Musicians from Naples Polydor Records artists Singers from Naples Ciak d'oro winners