Calibro 35, a cinematic funk group from Milan, Italy is called. It all began in summer 2007, when Tommaso Colliva, a producer of Muse, Franz Ferdinand and Phoenix, Arto Lindsay, invited Massimo Martellotta to play guitars and lapsteels. Enrico Gabrielli (PJ Harvey), John Parish, Mike Patton on keyboards and brass. Fabio Rondanini (Afterhours. Roberto Angelini. Collettivo Angelo mai) played drums. Luca Nano Cavina, Zeus, Transgender, was on bass to join the studio project that would be part of obscure 60’s B-Movie soundtracks. Calibro 35’s self-titled album can be listened to worldwide on Cinedelic Records in 2008. The album features music by Ennio Murricone, Armando Trovajoli and Franco Micalizzi, but it also includes two original songs. The single “Tutta Donna”, featuring American singer Georgeanne Kalweit, reached number one on the Italian independent radio charts. The band received enthusiastic reviews from international and Italian press, scoring four to five stars in almost all reviews. They began touring Italy and Europe with their album. Live shows proved to be even more successful than the album. The band won the Italian Independent Awards PIMI/MEI 2009 for “Best Tour”. Calibro 35 also made it to the USA in 2009, performing at the HitWeek Festival in Los Angeles as well as the Nublu and Zebulon clubs of New York City. Jason Bentley also featured the band on his Morning Becomes Eclectic on KCRW. The band will return to the US in the next year to perform at the CMJ festival in NYC. “Ritornano quelli di… Calibro 35” was the second album. It was released by Nublu Records in the US and Ghost Records in Europe. This album contains mostly original music, but it also includes Calibro 35’s version of Ritz Ortolani’s “Il Consigliori”, which Jay Z sampled on “Picasso Baby”. The LP’s “Calling All Units to Broccolino”, a song by the same name, was used as the ending theme to the blockbuster Hollywood movie RED starring John Malkovich, Helen Mirrell, and Bruce Willis. The album reached number 7 on the annual CMJ World Music Chart, topping at number 5 for five consecutive weeks, and received excellent airplay on college radio stations such as KCRW, KXLU and WRAS. The band was also commissioned to score the soundtrack for “Said”, an Italo/Spanish movie about a pulp character. Italo/Spanish director Joseph Lefevre directed it. Music was recorded at Morricone’s studio in Rome, Forum Music Village. Another song, “Appuntamento Al Contessa”, was recorded at the same moment. The soundtrack to the critically acclaimed gangster movie Vallanzasca: Gli Angeli Del Male featured the band as a “70’s party band”. While the band was touring Europe and Italy, “Rare” was released in January 2011. It contained music for independent movies, b sides, alternate takes, and was a compilation. The band was asked to create a show for the Teatro Dal Verme in Milan in October. “Indagine del Cinema Del Brivido” (Investigation into thrilling cinema) focused on music for Italian horror films from the 1970s, such as “Cannibal Holocaust”, Deep Red”, Zombie, and “Dawn of the Dead”. An orchestral ensemble, including strings, horns, and percussions, joined the band on stage. There were also six special guests. XL Magazine called the show “One of the most memorable concerts of 2011”. After band participation at the SXSW Festival in Austin Texas, “Any Resemblance To Real Persons or Actual Facts Is Purely Coincidental” was recorded in Brooklyn. The album was released by Nublu in the USA and Tannen Records/Rough Trade Europe in early 2012. Dr. Dre has sampled the title track from his 2015 “Compton Soundtrack”. The band traveled to Brazil in 2013 to perform at Nublu Jazz Festival. They shared the stage with Robert Glasper, Roy Ayers and The Headhunters. They opened for English rock band Muse in Turin’s Olympic stadium. The band released their fourth album, “Traditori di Tutto” on Record Kicks in October 2013. They then embarked on an intense European tour that saw them play all the major European cities as well as selling out clubs in London and Milan. All jingles, library music and other material for Radio 1 was commissioned by RAI, the Italian national public broadcaster. http://www.calibro35.com
