Rosario (Roy) Paci (born September 16, 1969 in Augusta) is an Italian trumpeter, singer,

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

and arranger.

Music and career

Born in Sicily, Paci started playing the piano as a young child and picked up the trumpet at age 10. By 13, he was playing traditional Sicilian jazz and performing in some of Italy's most famous clubs. Paci moved to South America in 1990 where he traveled to play cumbia and popular music in Uruguay, Argentina and Brazil. Further trips to the

Canary Islands The Canary Islands (; es, Canarias, ), also known informally as the Canaries, are a Spanish autonomous community and archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, in Macaronesia. At their closest point to the African mainland, they are west of Morocc ...

and Senegal helped him to train and develop his musical influences. These travels set Paci on the path that would lead him into a series of collaborations and tours involving music projects, film, television and political causes, including relief efforts in Africa and

Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says it has more than ten million members and sup ...

's campaign against violence on women. Returning to Italy, Paci entered the alternative rock scene to play with several bands, including Persiana Jones, Qbeta, Mau Mau,

Banda Ionica Banda Ionica is an Italian folk group focused on the brass band traditions of Sicily. The roots of the music played by the band can be traced to Holy Week and funeral marches. The banda tradition, updated by Banda Ionica and others, helped to ...

, and ZU. Paci's tastes reflected his broad influences and these bands played musical styles ranging from ska and punk to free jazz and Italian funeral marches. In 1999 Roy Paci met French-Spanish musician Manu Chao with whom he recorded the critically acclaimed album '' Próxima Estación: Esperanza''. Paci continued to record with Chao and toured extensively with his group Radio Bemba Sound System. In 2001 Paci began a long-standing collaboration with Dutch post-punk band The Ex, touring and recording with their Ex Orkest, a 20-piece band made up of various European improvisors revolving around The Ex's scratchy

anarcho-punk Anarcho-punk (also known as anarchist punk or peace punk) is ideological subgenre of punk rock that promotes anarchism. Some use the term broadly to refer to any punk music with anarchist lyrical content, which may figure in crust punk, hardcor ...

anthems. Along with

Wolter Wierbos Wolter Wierbos (born 1 September 1957, in Holten, Overijssel) is a Dutch trombonist. Wierbos has played throughout Europe, Canada, USA and Asia. Wierbos has many awards to his name, including the Podiumprijs for Jazz and Improvised music and the ...

( trombone), Mats Gustafsson and Ken Vandermark (saxophones), Paci has continued to tour with The Ex as a member of Brass Unbound and contributed trumpet tracks for the band's album ''

Catch My Shoe ''Catch My Shoe'' is an album by Dutch anarchist band The Ex. It is the band's first record after the departure of their original vocalist G.W. Sok and features Arnold de Boer, from the band Zea, on vocals, guitar and keyboard. It is also the b ...

''. In 2002 Paci formed his own band Aretuska and founded the record label Etnagigante in 2003 to produce their second album ''Tuttapposto'', which explored calypso,

rocksteady Rocksteady is a music genre that originated in Jamaica around 1966. A successor of ska and a precursor to reggae, rocksteady was the dominant style of music in Jamaica for nearly two years, performed by many of the artists who helped establish ...

and

swing Swing or swinging may refer to: Apparatus * Swing (seat), a hanging seat that swings back and forth * Pendulum, an object that swings * Russian swing, a swing-like circus apparatus * Sex swing, a type of harness for sexual intercourse * Swing rid ...

rhythms alongside new arrangements of classic Sicilian folk music. Collaborations continued with Tony Scott, Mike Patton, Gogol Bordello,

Shantel Stefan Hantel, better known by his stage name Shantel (born 2 March 1968), is a German DJ and producer based in Frankfurt. He is known for his work with Romani brass orchestras, DJing and remixing traditional Balkan music with electronic beat ...

and

Zap Mama Zap Mama is the music act of Belgian artist Marie Daulne. Zap Mama sings polyphonic and afro-pop music, a harmonic music with a mixture of infused African vocal techniques, urban, hip hop with emphasis on voice. The worldwide success of Zap Mam ...

. In 2006 Paci joined forces with Grammy Award-winning

klezmer Klezmer ( yi, קלעזמער or ) is an instrumental musical tradition of the Ashkenazi Jews of Central and Eastern Europe. The essential elements of the tradition include dance tunes, ritual melodies, and virtuosic improvisations played for l ...

musician Frank London and

Balkan The Balkans ( ), also known as the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throughout the who ...

brass band leader Boban Markovic for an album combining Paci's Sicilian tradition with Jewish melodies and Balkan sounds called Trumpet Triumph. In 2018, Paci entered the Sanremo Music Festival in collaboration with Diodato, entering the song "

Adesso ''Adesso'' is the sixth studio album released by Mango, in 1987. The album is known for the single " Bella d'estate", which was co-written with Lucio Dalla. Singer's brother Armando Mango contributed to the songwriting. The Cd version contains tw ...

" and finishing 8th overall. In 2023, Paci entered Sanmarinese national selection '' Una voce per San Marino'' with the song "Tromba".

Theatre, television and cinema

Roy Paci has worked for the Italian alternative theater scene, putting up the show ''Poetry and Andalusia'', which was performed in Italy's the most prominent avant-garde theaters. Paci's penchant for experimental theater and music mingled in the ''Trade Almost telepathy'', written by Ivano Fossati and subsequently released as audiobooks. Starting in 2005, Roy Paci's group Aretuska served as the house band on popular Italian television shows, making him and his music familiar to the general public. Paci has composed film scores for Italian cinema and several of Paci's songs have been commissioned for film soundtracks, including a version of " Besame Mucho" in Leonardo Pieraccioni's 2003 film ''Suddenly Paradise''.

Discography

Albums by Roy Paci and Aretuska

*''Baciamo Le Mani'' (2001) *''Tuttapposto'' (2003) *''Parola D'Onore'' (2005) *''Suonoglobal'' (2007) *''Bestiario Siciliano – Greatest Hits of Roy Paci & Aretuska'' (2008) *''Latinista'' (2010) *''Valelapena''(2017)https://www.discogs.com/

Singles

* "Cantu Siciliano" (2002) * "The Duse" (2002) * " Besame Mucho" (2003) * "Yettaboom" (2003) * "Viva la vida" (2006) * "What you see is what you get" (2006) * "Toda Joia toda beleza" (feat. Manu Chao) * "Giramundo" (2007) * "Bonjour Bahia" (2010)

Collaborations

With The Ex

*'' Een Rondje Holland'' (2001) *''

'' (2010) *''

Enormous Door ''Enormous Door'' is an album by Dutch post-punk band The Ex and Brass Unbound, a quartet of horn players hailing from four different countries. The album was released in 2013 on The Ex's own label, comprising reworked versions of previously rel ...

'' (2013)

With Manu Chao

* '' Próxima Estación: Esperanza'' (Virgin, 2001) * '' Radio Bemba Sound System'' (live, Virgin, 2002) * '' Sibérie m'était contée'' (Virgin, 2004) * '' La Radiolina'' (Because/Nacional, 2007)

With Matshie

*''Flight Song #7'' *''I Am Sad''

With Mau Mau

*''Viva Mamanera'' *''Eldorado'' *''General chaos'' *''Safari Beach''

With Negrita

*''Soy Taranta'' *''Infinite Joy'' *''Move!'' *''Notte Mediterranea'' *''Brother Joe'' *''Giramundo''

With other musicians

*''Quattroemezzo'' – Brusco *''Closet Wonder'' – Cesare Basile *''Conjure'' – Conjure *''Same Wave'' – Dj Jad *''Electro Cabaret'' – The Fire *''Malacabeza'' – Harpoons *''No Doubt'' – Jaka *'' Mondo Cane'' – Mike Patton & Metropole Orchestra*''Tacabanda'' – Pelù *''Unidentified'' – Subsonica *''Hard World'' – Tonino Carotone *''Esplosivo (KOB)'' – Cor Veleno *''Mezzogiorno di Fuoco'' – Caparezza & Sud Sound System *''24000'' – Dubioza Kolektiv (Happy Machine, 2016) *"

" - Diodato

References

External links

Roy Paci at allmusic.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Paci, Roy 1969 births Living people Musical groups from Sicily Italian trumpeters Male trumpeters Italian film score composers Italian male film score composers Nastro d'Argento winners Sicilian-language singers 21st-century trumpeters 21st-century Italian male musicians