User:Leno Landini

Leno Landini

Giancarlo Landini known as Leno Landini (born on the 29th of August 1955, Rome, Italy) is an Italian music composer and harmonica player, as well as, an artist. He began playing the harmonica when he was about 13 years old, after he saw the movie “Once Upon a Time in the West” by Sergio Leone.

Since then he has dedicate his life to creating music and studying all the various ways to produce all the different sounds of a harmonica. He is known for the particularity of having electrified the harmonica using all different effects, which one usually adds to a guitar, and is considered to be the Father of the Electric Harmonica. He carries 12 harmonicas on a belt and constantly interchanges them.

Leno has recorded 2 CDs. The first is “Broken Harp” and the second one is called “The Howling Spirit”

Leno is a soloist harmonica player who accompanied important artists in concerts, in studios and/or in TV passages, (such as with: Pippo Baudo, Ron, Tony Esposito, Tiro Mancino, Marina Rei, Nino Buonocore, Lorella Cuccarini, Marcello Cirillo, Pippo Pollina – ex Agricantus, etc.). He enriched his professional experiences also with interventions on various soundtracks of documentaries, films and Tv series ("I Grandi Cacciatori" ("The Great Hunters"), " Hawkin's Breed" with Jane Fonda, "Le Donne Non Vogliono Più" ("Women Don't Want Anymore") of Pino Quartullo etc.) which some of them were realized by well-known Italian composers (Luigi Ceccarelli, Gianni Mazza, Nicola Piovani, Giuseppe Vessicchio, Bacalov etc.).

In the ‘80s he was a member of the legendary group called “The Wild Way”, who played on the Spanish Steps. For years, he attended the halls of all those Roman clubs devoted to Jam Sessions and to Live music.

But, above all, his unique nature makes it seem as if he comes out of a tale of adventure. This characterizes his artistic creativity where he created sounds researching deeply inside them. He was also influenced by his solitary travels in Northern Europe. These places were drawn to him, because his instrument (the harmonica) is more familiar there. In these travels meeting with great international artists or even only with the most various "on the road" artists, he knew how to gather the original influence. This makes him unique, out of commercial tendencies, consenting him to feed himself of those images from world of the North; which he then transposed all this in many of his musical themes. Dedicating his life completely to music, his experience does not rise from pedantic academic studies. Completely autodidactic, Leno, different than many musicians that use this instrument, plays the diatonic harmonica with his personal method, exploiting more tonalities contemporarily, in order to reach a wider extension of the harmonica in respect of its conventional use, and therefore, able him to execute more complex melodic phrases. He modifies some of his harmonicas from their original tonalities and therefore, this renders them unique instruments. Eclectic artist, he knew how to electrify the sound of the harmonica (which generally is used acoustically). He managed to extend the notes of the harmonica through a long and deep research of the effects, creating spectral tonalities. These notes create contemporary and evocative sounds, rich of magic; a sort of continuous communication between Rock, Folk, New Age and Progressive Country, where the harmonicas of various caliber play in harmony with electric guitars, violins, percussion, etc. This ductility, regulated by a personality well defined, consents Leno to interact in the history of traditional music, holding up performances of "battle" and improvisation loaded of emotion.

He also plays perfectly acoustically accompanied by the Orchestra of RAI (Italian State TV) at the Festivals of San Remo (Marina Rei, Daniela Colace, Nino Buonocore), without loosing his personal imprint.

Videos of Leno Landini

Leno Landini at the Festival of San Remo, Italy 1997 with Marina Rei's song "Dentro me"