As a little boy I dreamed of Ray Charles.
I loved everything about him.
I dressed up like Ray Charles.
This was rare for a little Italian boy growing up in Tuscany, Italy.
Although my family did not understand my passion, my father who was a Judge by day, and a secret lover of drums by night, placed me in piano lessons.

From ages five to eleven I was taking privates with Alessandro Lanine, and from ages 12-16 I attended the Conservatoria Luigi Poccherini My practice sessions were five to six hours a day. Many times I had to miss school to make sure my lessons were complete.

At age 13 I began to play at Piano Bars.
I played at weddings and local events and formed bands with other musicians. I expanded beyond my Classical training and played Rock, Latin and Metal and of course the Ballroom/Salon music popular in Italy that my father played with his orchestra. At age sixteen I was exploring Acid Jazz, Blues and Funk
Tower of Power, KC and the Sunshine Band, Herbie Hancock and Kool and the Gang were just some of my idols. My boy band was called “Andie and the Gang,” named by my drummer best friend.

After high school my life took another turn.
There was College and the Military.
I was asked to take a special Intelligence test for Military Officials. Little did I know at the time how much this test would impact my future.
I scored in the top thirty six out of ten thousand men and so they sent me to head a special force in Bosnia, a country that had just experienced the putrid stench of death and destruction of war. Our job was to pick up dead people.

It was a dark time for me. A chapter I have mostly blocked off from my conscience.
A time where there was no music.
Coming back to regular life was a shock.
I began to work for IBM. I had a knack for computer technology and it was a world that made sense to me.

There came an opportunity to compose music in Berlin and London. I created Electronic music, playing in clubs.

I enjoyed the traveling, however that little boy in me that longed for the music of Ray Charles never left and when I visited Spain during one vacation and discovered a community of Jazz, I stayed to live. I immersed myself in Jazz, playing with the Jazz Orchestra and with Quartets and Bands that would travel all around Spain. I opened up a Jazz Local Bar in Seville, prepared the menu and would book talent various nights of the week.

In Spain I began producing, programming and arranging my own music and music for others.
I spent hours in my little homemade studio.
I could not afford hiring an entire orchestra so I started to explore and create my own orchestra through computer programs.
A whole new world with limitless possibilities opened up for me and gave me the opportunity to create one of my biggest loves of all – movie soundtracks.

During all of the chapters of my life there was always the movies. I was drawn to American movies, and most of all the beauty and brilliance of Cinema film scores. John William, Ennio Morricone, Hans Zimmer are just some of my heroes. This was my escape and one of my greatest pleasures.

Combining computer programming technology with the art of music allowed me to create, dream and compose like the composers of the movies. My heart and head combined as one.

In early 2020 I visited the United States, the home of Jazz and Blues. I stayed in the Bay Area, the home of Tower of Power, and I discovered the SFCM, TAC department. I visited the school and audited some courses.
It was a dream come true – a place that combined all my loves in one location with persons who had the same passion for music as I do. A place where I feel like I can grow, collaborate, and create. A place I could call home.