Oceano
—  census-designated place  —
Location in San Luis Obispo County and the state of California
Coordinates: 35°6′10″N 120°36′41″W / 35.10278°N 120.61139°W / 35.10278; -120.61139Coordinates: 35°6′10″N 120°36′41″W / 35.10278°N 120.61139°W / 35.10278; -120.61139
Country	United States
State	California
County	San Luis Obispo
Area[1]
• Total	1.547 sq mi (4.006 km2)
• Land	1.532 sq mi (3.967 km2)
• Water	0.015 sq mi (0.039 km2)  0.98%
Elevation	30 ft (9 m)
Population (2010)
• Total	7,286
• Density	4,700/sq mi (1,800/km2)
Time zone	Pacific (PST) (UTC-8)
• Summer (DST)	PDT (UTC-7)
ZIP codes	93445, 93475
Area code(s)	805
FIPS code	06-53294
GNIS feature ID	1652760

Oceano ( /oʊʃiˈɑːnoʊ/ or /oʊsiˈɑːnoʊ/; Spanish: [oˈθeano]) is a census-designated place (CDP) in San Luis Obispo County, California, United States. The population was 7,286 at the 2010 census, up from 7,260 at the 2000 census.

Geography[link]

Oceano Dunes State Vehicular Recreation Area

Oceano is located at 35°6′10″N 120°36′41″W / 35.10278°N 120.61139°W / 35.10278; -120.61139 (35.102680, -120.611471).^[2]

Oceano is part of the 5 Cities Metropolitan Area. According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of 1.5 square miles (3.9 km²), of which, 1.5 square miles (3.9 km²) of it is land and 0.02 square miles (0.052 km²) of it (0.98%) is water.

Oceano's beach is the Oceano Dunes State Vehicular Recreation Area, a 1,500 acres (6.1 km²) coastal sand dune. As the only state park in California where visitors may drive vehicles on the beach, tourists are attracted from all over the United States. Activities on this beach include riding the sand dunes on all-terrain-vehicles, swimming, clamming, camping, surfing, surf fishing, hiking, and bird watching.

Demographics[link]

2010[link]

The 2010 United States Census^[3] reported that Oceano had a population of 7,286. The population density was 4,710.2 people per square mile (1,818.6/km²). The racial makeup of Oceano was 5,105 (70.1%) White, 62 (0.9%) African American, 120 (1.6%) Native American, 165 (2.3%) Asian, 7 (0.1%) Pacific Islander, 1,509 (20.7%) from other races, and 318 (4.4%) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 3,484 persons (47.8%).

The Census reported that 7,286 people (100% of the population) lived in households, 0 (0%) lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 0 (0%) were institutionalized.

There were 2,603 households, out of which 904 (34.7%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 1,147 (44.1%) were opposite-sex married couples living together, 360 (13.8%) had a female householder with no husband present, 197 (7.6%) had a male householder with no wife present. There were 197 (7.6%) unmarried opposite-sex partnerships, and 38 (1.5%) same-sex married couples or partnerships. 680 households (26.1%) were made up of individuals and 266 (10.2%) had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.80. There were 1,704 families (65.5% of all households); the average family size was 3.39.

The population was spread out with 1,738 people (23.9%) under the age of 18, 747 people (10.3%) aged 18 to 24, 2,028 people (27.8%) aged 25 to 44, 1,870 people (25.7%) aged 45 to 64, and 903 people (12.4%) who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35.4 years. For every 100 females there were 101.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 100.7 males.

There were 3,117 housing units at an average density of 2,015.1 per square mile (778.0/km²), of which 1,355 (52.1%) were owner-occupied, and 1,248 (47.9%) were occupied by renters. The homeowner vacancy rate was 3.7%; the rental vacancy rate was 5.9%. 3,444 people (47.3% of the population) lived in owner-occupied housing units and 3,842 people (52.7%) lived in rental housing units.

2000[link]

As of the census^[4] of 2000, there were 7,260 people, 2,447 households, and 1,722 families residing in the CDP. The population density was 4,774.4 people per square mile (1,844.1/km²). There were 2,762 housing units at an average density of 1,816.4 per square mile (701.6/km²). The racial makeup of the CDP was 68.73% White, 1.12% African American, 1.29% Native American, 1.80% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 21.78% from other races, and 5.25% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 44.63% of the population.

There were 2,447 households out of which 38.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 50.2% were married couples living together, 14.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 29.6% were non-families. 23.0% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.96 and the average family size was 3.50.

In the CDP the population was spread out with 29.5% under the age of 18, 10.2% from 18 to 24, 29.8% from 25 to 44, 20.1% from 45 to 64, and 10.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 32 years. For every 100 females there were 97.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 96.3 males.

The median income for a household in the CDP was $38,014, and the median income for a family was $39,254. Males had a median income of $28,180 versus $21,310 for females. The per capita income for the CDP was $16,561. About 14.1% of families and 16.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 22.0% of those under age 18 and 6.2% of those age 65 or over.

Culture[link]

• The Great American Melodrama[1] performs original plays nightly in Oceano. Irish poet and Celtic mythologist Ella Young's final years were spent in Oceano (she died there in 1956).

Politics[link]

In the state legislature Oceano is located in the 15th Senate District, represented by Republican Abel Maldonado, and in the 33rd Assembly District, represented by Republican Sam Blakeslee. Federally, Oceano is located in California's 23rd congressional district, which has a Cook PVI of D +9^[5] and is represented by Democrat Lois Capps.

References[link]

External links[link]

Look up Oceano in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

• Oceano Dunes State Vehicle Recreation Area - Dune Guide

v t e Municipalities and communities of San Luis Obispo County, California, United States County seat: San Luis Obispo Cities Arroyo Grande Atascadero Grover Beach Morro Bay Paso Robles Pismo Beach San Luis Obispo CDPs Avila Beach Blacklake Callender Cambria Cayucos Creston Edna Garden Farms Lake Nacimiento Los Berros Los Osos Los Ranchos Nipomo Oak Shores Oceano San Miguel San Simeon Santa Margarita Shandon Templeton Whitley Gardens Woodlands Unincorporated communities Adelaida Asuncion Baywood-Los Osos Bee Rock Bern Bromela California Valley Cambria Pines Cholame Chorro Halcyon Harmony Huasna Pozo

Josh Groban
Josh Groban, February 6, 2009
Background information
Birth name	Joshua Winslow Groban
Born	(1981-02-27) February 27, 1981 (age 31) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Genres	Easy listening, vocal, operatic pop, pop rock
Occupations	Singer, songwriter, musician, actor, record producer
Instruments	Vocals, piano, drums, percussion
Years active	1997–present
Labels	143, Reprise
Associated acts	Tenacious D
Website	joshgroban.com

Joshua Winslow "Josh" Groban (born February 27, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, actor, and record producer. His first four solo albums have been certified multi-platinum, and in 2007, he was charted as the number-one best selling artist in the United States with over 21 million records in that country.^[1][2] To date, he has sold over 24 million albums worldwide,^[3] and is the top selling classical artist of the 2000s in the US, according to Nielsen SoundScan.^[4]

Groban originally studied acting, but as his voice changed, it developed into a "significant instrument". Groban attended the Los Angeles High School for the Arts, a free public school where students received a conservatory-style education. His life changed when his vocal coach, Seth Riggs, submitted a tape of Josh singing "All I Ask of You", from The Phantom of the Opera, to Riggs' friend, producer, composer and arranger David Foster.^[5][6] Foster called him to stand in for an ailing Andrea Bocelli to rehearse a duet, "The Prayer," with Celine Dion at the rehearsal for the Grammy Awards in 1998.^[7] Rosie O'Donnell immediately invited him to appear on her talk show.^[8] Foster asked him to sing at the California Governor's Gray Davis' 1999 inauguration.^[5][9] He was cast on Ally McBeal by the show's creator, David E. Kelley, performing "You're Still You" for the 2001 season finale.^[10]

Early life and education[link]

Groban was born in Los Angeles, to Lindy (née Johnston), a school teacher and full time mother, and Jack Groban, a businessman.^[11][12] He has a younger brother, Chris, who shares the same birthday, four years later.^[13] Groban's father was born Jewish, and is a descendant of Russian and Polish immigrants;^[14] he converted from Judaism to Christianity when marrying Groban's mother.^[13] Groban's mother's ancestry includes Norwegian (from Toten), German, and English; one of her own grandfathers had been Jewish.^[15][16][17] Groban's parents practiced in the Episcopal Church.^[8]

Groban debuted as a singer in the fifth grade. His music teacher chose him to sing a solo of "S'wonderful" at the school's Cabaret Night, where he sang alone on stage for the first time. At this time, he was more focused on theatrical arts.^[8] In the summers of 1997 and 1998, he also attended the Interlochen Center for the Arts Camp in Michigan,^[14] majoring in music theatre, and began taking vocal lessons. Groban went on to attend the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts as a theatre major and graduated in 1999.^[14] He was admitted to Carnegie Mellon University, intending to study drama, but he left four months into his first semester. Offered a recording contract, he decided to pursue his singing career.^[14]

Music career[link]

1998–2001: debut[link]

In late 1998, the 17-year-old Groban was introduced by his vocal coach to Grammy-winning producer/arranger David Foster and future manager Brian Avnet.^[18] At the time Groban had no recording experience and was preparing to begin studying at Carnegie Mellon University.^[18] Groban worked for David Foster as a rehearsal singer on a series of high-profile events, including the January 1999 inauguration of Gray Davis as Governor of California and the 1999 Grammy Awards where—as a stand-in for Andrea Bocelli—he rehearsed Foster's "The Prayer" with Céline Dion. According to manager Avnet, Groban was very nervous about standing in for Bocelli and had to be talked into it, but his performance prompted the show hostess, Rosie O'Donnell, to ask him to appear on her show the following week, which then led to an appearance on the Ally McBeal show.^[18] David E. Kelley, creator of the television series Ally McBeal, created a character, Malcolm Wyatt, for Groban in the season finale aired in May 2001. The character of Malcolm Wyatt was so popular, prompting 8,000 emails from viewers,^[19] that Groban was asked to return the next season to reprise his role and perform "To Where You Are." Avnet claims this sequence of events effectively got Groban's career off the ground.^[18]

Groban was offered a recording contract at Warner Bros. Records through Foster's 143 Records imprint. Avnet told HitQuarters that Warner initially proved resistant to the deal because "They were afraid they wouldn’t be able to get a voice like that on radio."^[18] Explaining his reasons for signing the artist, Foster said: "I love his natural ability in the pop and rock arena, but I love his sense of classics even more. He's a true musical force to be reckoned with."^[19] Under Foster's influence, Groban's first album focused more on classics such as "Gira Con Me Questa Notte" and "Alla Luce Del Sole."

Groban performed "There For Me" with Sarah Brightman on her 2000–01 La Luna World Tour, and was featured on her "La Luna" concert DVD. He recorded "For Always" with Lara Fabian on the movie soundtrack to A.I.: Artificial Intelligence (2001). Groban performed in many benefit shows, including: "The Andre Agassi Grand Slam Event For Children," singing alongside Elton John, Stevie Wonder, Don Henley, and Robin Williams; "Muhammad Ali's Fight Night Foundation" which honored Michael J. Fox and others; "The Family Celebration" (2001), which was co-hosted by President Bill Clinton and his wife, Hillary Rodham Clinton, and David E. Kelley and his wife, Michelle Pfeiffer; and Michael Milken's CapCure event, which raises funds for cancer research.

The singer's self-titled debut album Josh Groban was released on November 20, 2001. Over the next year, it went from gold to double-platinum.^[20]

[edit] 2002–05: Closer

On February 24, 2002, Groban performed "The Prayer" with Charlotte Church at the closing ceremonies of the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, and by November, he had his own PBS special, "Josh Groban In Concert" (2002). In December 2002, he performed "To Where You Are" and sang "The Prayer" in a duet with Sissel Kyrkjebø at the Nobel Peace Prize Concert in Oslo, Norway. He joined The Corrs, Ronan Keating, Sting, Lionel Richie, and others for a Christmas performance at the Vatican in Rome, Italy. In 2003, Groban performed at the David Foster concert for World Children's Day, singing "The Prayer" with Celine Dion and the finale song, "Aren't They All Our Children?" with artists including Yolanda Adams, Nick Carter, Enrique Iglesias, and Celine Dion.

Groban in concert at the Verizon Wireless Arena in Manchester, NH

Groban's second album Closer, produced and written by Foster, was released on November 11, 2003. Groban said that he believed that this second album was a better reflection of him, and that his audience would be able to get a better idea of his personality from listening to it. "What most people know about me, they know through my music. This time, I've tried to open that door as wide as possible. These songs are a giant step closer to who I really am and what my music is all about. Hence the title."^[19]

Two months after Closer was released, it rose on the Billboard charts from number 11 to number one.^[6] His cover of "You Raise Me Up" became very popular on the adult contemporary charts. Groban also performed the song "Remember" (with Tanja Tzarovska) on the Troy soundtrack, "Believe" on the soundtrack to the 2004 animated film The Polar Express, and a cover of Linkin Park's "My December".

In the summer of 2004, Groban returned to Interlochen, performing and discussing his earlier experiences with local residents and campers. On November 30, 2004, his second live DVD, Live At The Greek, was released; it was also shown as a Great Performances special on PBS. Also in 2004, Groban performed "Remember When It Rained," backed by a full orchestra, at the American Music Awards, where he was nominated for Favorite Male Artist in the pop category; he was also nominated for a People's Choice Award in that year. His recording of "Believe" secured a 2005 Academy Award nomination for the song's two writers, Glen Ballard and Alan Silvestri,^[21] and earned them a Grammy in the category Best Song Written for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media at the ceremony held in February 2006.^[22]

[edit] 2005–10: Awake

Groban earned his first Grammy nomination in 2005 for his single "You Raise Me Up", in the category of "Best Male Vocal Performance". During the first week of September 2006, Groban's single entitled "You Are Loved (Don't Give Up)" was released exclusively on AOL's First Listen. His third studio album Awake was officially released on November 7, 2006. Groban performed "You Are Loved (Don't Give Up)" as well as two other tracks from Awake at his recording session for Live from Abbey Road at Abbey Road Studios on 26 October 2006. On that album, Groban also collaborated with British musician and songwriter Imogen Heap, on the single "Now or Never". He performed two tracks with the South African group Ladysmith Black Mambazo, "Lullaby" and "Weeping." Groban's "Awake" world tour visited 71 cities between February and August 2007, and travelled further to Australia and the Philippines with Lani Misalucha as his special guest in October 2007. He performed a duet with Barbra Streisand ("All I Know of Love") and with Mireille Mathieu ("Over the Rainbow"). As to his future, Groban is open to a plethora of possibilities. He said, "I am fortunate enough to have had many really big moments in my career. I think the mistake a lot of people in my position make is to always search for the next big thing. I am looking forward to playing some small theaters. I'm looking forward to writing more. I want to delve further into my acting career and explore some of the film and TV opportunities that I haven't had time for. My outlook is to expect the unexpected. And when the next step comes, I'm prepared to take it."^[10] Groban has also expressed an interest in performing on Broadway.^[23]

2010–present[link]

Groban finished his fifth studio album, entitled Illuminations, and the album was released on November 15, 2010.^[24] Most of the songs on the album are about "specific situations that I've had where love has existed and ultimately failed," Groban told The New York Times, adding: "And other songs are about the quest, and it just not working out." Groban wrote 11 of the 13 songs on the album.^[25] The first single from the album, "Hidden Away," was made available for free download via Facebook on September 8.^[26] “For me to sit in a room with a piano in one take with some of Johnny Cash’s musicians — that was totally new for me.” Josh added. “and I think that excitement is on the record.”^[25] On October 12, a second single from the upcoming album, "Você Existe Em Mim", was made available on iTunes.^[27] This song is sung in Brazilian Portuguese and was written by Brazilian artist Carlinhos Brown. The Washington Post said: "Illuminations" is not a revelation, but it offers a perfectly fine, and often quite lovely, glimpse at a pop-classical crossover artist in the middle of crossing over."^[28] Josh plans on making one more record with Rick Rubin.^[29] Beginning May 12, 2011 and continuing through December of that year, Groban undertook the 81-city Straight to You Tour to promote Illuminations, encompassing appearances in North America, Europe, and South Africa.^[30]

Notable performances[link]

Groban at the ET Post-Emmys Party, Walt Disney Concert Hall, September 21, 2008

On April 14, 2008, Groban joined Idina Menzel for a PBS Soundstage taping. The next day, he held his own taping for the same PBS TV series at Lincoln Center's Rose Hall at Jazz in New York City.

In June 2007, Groban recorded a Christmas album in London with the London Symphony Orchestra and the Magdalen College Choir, which he discussed on the DVD from "The Making of Noël". It was released on October 9, 2007, and is titled Noël.^[31] The album has been highly successful in the US, breaking numerous records for a Christmas album, as well as becoming the best selling album of 2007 in only its tenth week of release, at sales of 3.6 million.^[32]

On July 1, 2007, Groban performed with Sarah Brightman at the Concert for Diana at Wembley Stadium; it was broadcast to over 500 million homes in 140 countries.

On February 10, 2008, Groban performed at the 2008 Grammy Awards with Andrea Bocelli in a tribute to Luciano Pavarotti.

On May 12 and 13, 2008 At Royal Albert Hall, London, Groban performed as "The Russian" Anatoly Sergievsky; joining with Broadway stars Idina Menzel and Adam Pascal in "Chess in Concert" a live concert version of the musical Chess composed by Benny Andersson and Bjorn Ulvaeus of ABBA fame. This performance has since been made into a DVD and CD recording.^[33]

On September 21, 2008, Groban performed a comical medley of well-known TV theme songs at the 60th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards.

In December 2008, Groban appeared on Never Mind the Buzzcocks. He performed a duet with Only Men Aloud! at the Royal Variety Show at the London Palladium for the Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall.^[34]

On January 18, 2009, Groban performed as part of the Presidential Inauguration ceremonies, performing "My Country 'Tis of Thee" in duet with Heather Headley.^[35]

On January, 19. 2009, Groban performed with Herbie Hancock as part of Feeding America's Rally Against Hunger in Washington DC. The event was also attended by Martin Luther King III and actor Ben Affleck.

At the 2010 BCS National Championship Game, he performed the Star Spangled Banner on Jan. 7, 2010, with Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist Flea, at the historic Rose Bowl Stadium in Pasadena, California.

Film and television appearances[link]

Groban has appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show six times,^[10] as well as on The Ellen Degeneres Show, Larry King Live, The Rosie O'Donnell Show, Tim & Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno,^[36] 20/20, Today, Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, Super Bowl XXXVIII, and the Walt Disney World Christmas Day Parade, the Rockefeller Tree Lighting. He has also been a guest co-host on Live with Regis and Kelly many times from 2006 to 2012.

Groban played Malcolm Wyatt, a preacher's son, on Ally McBeal, episodes "The Wedding" and "Nine One One" (2001).

Groban has made two guest appearances on the series Glee as himself.^[37]

Groban appeared on BBC Two's hit British music quiz Never Mind the Buzzcocks. His first appearance was as a guest on Omid Djalili's team. On December 21, 2010, he returned to Never Mind the Buzzcocks, this time as guest host/quiz master and ending the show duetting with Michael Ball in a version of "I Dreamed a Dream" from Les Miserables.

Groban appeared in The Office as Andy Bernard's brother in the episode "Garden Party" (2011).^[38]

On Tuesday, May 24, 2011, Groban appeared as a mystery guest star on the season 12 finale of Dancing With the Stars to surprise Petra Nemcova by singing "You Raise Me Up" to her dance. When she saw that it was he who was actually singing the song and not one of the usual performers, she momentarily was too stunned to continue dancing.

In the comedy Crazy, Stupid, Love., a film starring Steve Carell and Ryan Gosling, released on July 29, 2011, Groban played a character named Richard, a caddish and nerdy attorney.^[39][40]

In 2012, he appeared in episode 5 of series 12 of the revived British comedy panel show Room 101.

Voice type[link]

Various music critics have described Groban's voice in different ways, with some referring to him as a tenor^[41][42] and others as a baritone.^[43][44] In performance, Groban's music goes as low as G₂ (as in the songs "To Where You Are" and "Higher Window") and extends up to at least B♭₄^[45] (as heard in "You Raise Me Up" or in "February Song").^[46] This places his voice lower than the tenor range on the low end, and just short of Tenor C, and therefore above the baritone range, on the high end.^[47][48] There is currently no authoritative system of voice classification in non-classical music. The problem lies in the fact that classical terms are used to describe not merely various vocal ranges, but specific vocal timbres each unique to those respective ranges, and produced by the classical training techniques with which most popular singers are not intimately familiar and which are not universally employed by the few that are. In a 2002 New York Times article, Groban described himself as a "tenor in training".^[49]

Charity[link]

Josh Groban in concert at Atlantic City's Boardwalk Hall

Under the guidance of his mentor David Foster, Groban performed for many charity events that included VH1 Save the Music (2005), Tsunami Aid: A Concert of Hope (2005), Fifth Annual Adopt-A-Minefield concert (2005), 2nd Annual Grammy Jam (2005), Live 8 (2005), The Heart Foundation Gala (2005), and David Foster and Friends Charity Gala (2006). He also sang a solo on the recording of We Are The World 25 for Haiti (2010). Inspired by a visit with Nelson Mandela during a 2004 trip to South Africa, he established the Josh Groban Foundation to help children in need through education, healthcare and the arts. Mandela appointed Groban as an Official Ambassador for Mandela's Project 46664, a campaign to help raise Global awareness of HIV/AIDS in Africa. On April 25, 2007, Josh Groban performed with the African Children's Choir on American Idol's "Idol Gives Back" episode. Also on September 2, 2007, Groban donated $150,000 to Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools to fund music education.^[50] On February 28, 2008, he appeared in One Night Live at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto, Canada with Bryan Adams, Sarah McLachlan, Jann Arden and RyanDan in aid of the Sunnybrook Hospital Women and Babies Program. In honor of his 27th birthday, his fans set out to raise $27,000 in a project called "Raise 27". They ended up raising a total of $44,227 for the Josh Groban Foundation, to benefit the Noah's Ark children's orphanage called Siyawela in South Africa. Groban has since referred to this donation as "the best birthday present ever".^[51] For those who could afford the $1500 ticket, Josh Groban performed at the The Angel Ball on October 21, 2010. Proceeds went to the Gabrielles Angel Foundation for cancer research.^[52]

Impact[link]

Some of Groban's musical influences have been Radiohead, Steve Perry, Paul Simon, Sting, Peter Gabriel, Freddie Mercury^[53] and Björk. He cites as vocal influences "anyone who told a story with their songs," including Mandy Patinkin, Klaus Nomi, George Hearn, and Luciano Pavarotti.^[54]

He was named the #1 Best Selling Artist of All Time on Barnes & Noble in 2007. Groban has sold more than 20 million albums in less than ten years.

In 2002, Groban was listed as "100 Sexiest Newcomer" and in 2008, he became one of People's "100 Most Beautiful People".

Personal life[link]

Groban dated actress January Jones from 2003–06.^[55] Although maintaining a home in Los Angeles, he recently moved his primary residence to New York City, where he indicates that "dating can be very easy or very tough."^[56][57]

Discography[link]

• 2001: Josh Groban
• 2003: Closer
• 2006: Awake
• 2007: Noël
• 2010: Illuminations

Concert tours[link]

• Closer Tour (2004–2005)
• Awake Tour (2007)
• Before We Begin (2010)
• Straight to You Tour (2011)

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Josh Groban

• Official website
• BroadwayWorld: Idina Menzel & Josh Groban to Star in 'Chess' Musical UK Concert?
• Chess in Concert (2008)
• Brown, Bob. "A Star in the Making: Who is Josh Groban?."^{[dead link]} ABCNews. com: 20/20
• Josh Groban at the Internet Movie Database
• Josh Groban video interview on Virgin Red Room
• Watch Josh Groban make a northern cuppa in this exclusive interview with Virgin Red Room

Fabrizio Cristiano De André (18 February 1940 - 11 January 1999) was an Italian singer-songwriter. Known for his sympathies towards anarchism, libertarism and pacifism, his songs often featured marginalized and rebellious people, gypsies, prostitutes and knaves, and attacked the Catholic Church hierarchy hypocrisies.^[1]. Artistically active for almost 40 years and the author of thirty studio albums, he is renowned for the quality of his lyrics and often considered a poet. He contributed to the valorization of the languages of Italy, most notably Ligurian and, to a lesser extent, Sardinian, Gallurese and Neapolitan. Following his early death several streets, places, parks, schools and public libraries were named after him.^{[2][3][4][5][6]}

Biography[link]

De André was born in Genoa, welcomed into the world by Gino Marinuzzi's "Country Waltz" on the home gramophone. Twenty-five years later, Fabrizio De André would set his "Waltz for a Love" to Marinuzzi's waltz tune.

When war broke out, the De Andre' family had to seek refuge on a country farm near Revignano (a little town near Asti), in Piemonte. Fabrizio's father, who was an Anti-fascista pursued by the police, joined the partisans. In 1945 the De André family moved back to Genova. Fabrizio went to primary school, first at the Marcellian Sisters' School and, later, at the Cesare Battisti public school. He went on to the Liceo Classico "Cristoforo Colombo"; after his final examination, he enrolled in the Law School at the University of Genoa, though he did not graduate (he gave up when he had only a few exams left). De Andre' first played the violin, then the guitar, and joined a number of local jazz bands (jazz was his "first love").

First recordings[link]

In 1961 De André recorded his first two songs, "Nuvole barocche" ("Baroque Clouds") and "E fu la notte" ("And There Was Night"); in 1962 he married Puny Rignon, a Genoese woman nearly ten years older. That same year the couple had their first and only son, Cristiano, who would follow in his father's footsteps and become a musician and songwriter as well.

In the following years De André wrote a number of songs which made him known to a larger public, soon becoming classic hits: "La guerra di Piero" ("Peter's War"), "La ballata dell'eroe" ("The Hero's Ballad"), "Il testamento di Tito" ("Titus's Will"), "La Ballata del Michè" ("Mike's Ballad"), "Via del Campo" (literally "Field Street", a famous street in Genoa), "La canzone dell'amore perduto" ("Song for Lost Love"), "La città vecchia" ("Old Downtown"), "Carlo Martello ritorna dalla battaglia di Poitiers" ("Charles Martel on His Way Back from Poitiers", written together with actor Paolo Villaggio, one of De André's closest friends), and "La canzone di Marinella" ("Marinella's Song").

Volume 1[link]

De André's first LP, Volume 1, was issued shortly after (1968), followed by Tutti morimmo a stento ("We All Died Agonizingly") and Volume 3; both LPs soon reached the top of the Italian hit-parade. The former contained a personal version of "Eroina" ("Heroin") by the poet Riccardo Mannerini, entitled "Cantico dei drogati" ("Canticle of the Junkies").

[edit] La buona novella

In 1970 De André wrote La buona novella ("Glad Tidings" - a literal rendition of the etymology of gospel), a concept album based on Christ's life as told in the Apocrypha. The album was very controversial, especially the song "Il testamento di Tito" ("Titus's Will"), in which one of the thieves crucified with Jesus violently refutes the Ten Commandments. He had written a number of songs (like "Preghiera in Gennaio", "Prayer in January", and "Si chiamava Gesù", "His Name Was Jesus") in which he showed a Christian-like open-minded spirit and in the meantime invited the audience in his own delicate way to think about the manipulation of the church.

[edit] Non al denaro non all'amore né al cielo

In 1971 he wrote another celebrated concept album, Non al denaro non all'amore né al cielo ("Neither to money, nor to love, nor to Heaven"), based on Edgar Lee Masters's Spoon River Anthology; in an interview the LP was introduced to Fernanda Pivano, the first Italian translator of the "Anthology" and one of Cesare Pavese's most intimate friends. Fabrizio De André's name began to be associated with literature and poetry, and some of his songs found their way into school books.

[edit] Storia di un impiegato and Canzoni

In 1973 he wrote his most "political" album, Storia di un impiegato ("Story of an Employee").
The following year, De André issued Canzoni ("Songs"), a collection of his translations from Georges Brassens, Leonard Cohen and Bob Dylan. The album also included a number of his old songs from the 1960s.

[edit] Volume 8

In 1975 De André (who in the meantime had divorced his wife Puny and begun a relationship with the folksinger Dori Ghezzi) wrote Volume 8 with another famous Italian singer-songwriter, Francesco De Gregori. With this album, he broke with "tradition" in order to find a new approach to poetry and music. The lyrics show how deep the influence of modern poetry is on De André's work. 1975 marked a real change in De André's life: he began to perform in a series of memorable concerts (after his first performances of the early 1960s, he had always refused to appear in public, except for a couple of TV broadcasts) and planned to move to Sardinia with his new love. For this purpose, he purchased the Agnata homestead near Tempio Pausania in the northern part of the island, where he could devote himself to farming and cattle breeding.

In 1977 the couple had a daughter, Luisa Vittoria (nicknamed "Luvi"). The following year De André issued a new LP, Rimini. Most songs included on this album were written together with Massimo Bubola, a young singer-songwriter from Verona.

Concerts with PFM and kidnapping[link]

1979 was another milestone in De André's life. The year began with a series of distinguished live concerts from which a double LP was compiled; De André was accompanied by one of the most renowned Italian progressive rock bands, Premiata Forneria Marconi (PFM); the albums were released as In Concerto (1979), and In Concerto - Volume 2 (1980). At the end of August, however, De André and Ghezzi were kidnapped for ransom by a gang of bandits in Sardinia and held prisoner in the Alà dei Sardi mountains. The couple were released four months later with a ransom reportedly being paid. As De André stated in some interviews, he was helped by his father to find the money and had to start a tour shortly after the release of the "Indiano" album in order to repay him. When the bandits were apprehended by the police, De André was called as a witness before the Court. He showed compassion for some of his kidnappers, since he had been well treated by his "guardians" and declared his solidarity with them. "They were the real prisoners, not I", he said. This declaration is a good example of De André's viewpoint and approach.^{[citation needed]} He said he understood they were driven by need, but he did not show any compassion for the higher echelon of the group that organized his kidnapping, since they were already rich.

This incident, and the hard life of the Sardinian people, gave him inspiration for his following album, released in 1981. The album is untitled but, due to the image of Native American on the cover, the mass-media called it "The Indian". In De André's poetical vision, the American Indians merge with the poor Sardinian shepherds as an allegory for the marginalization and subjugation of people who are "different". The song "Hotel Supramonte", is dedicated to the kidnapping and to Dori Ghezzi, who was with him during those days. The album also contains one of his most famous songs, "Fiume Sand Creek" ("Sand Creek River"): in De André's unique, allusive way it tells the story of the massacre of defenseless Native Americans by US Army troops on 29 November 1864.

[edit] Crêuza de mä

In 1984 he turned to his native Genoese dialect; in collaboration with former PFM member Mauro Pagani he wrote one of his most celebrated albums, Crêuza de mä ("Path to the sea", the term "Crêuza" actually means a narrow road bordered by low walls, typical of Genoa and Liguria in general). The songs are a tribute to the traditional music from the Mediterranean basin. The album was awarded several prizes and was hailed as "the best Italian album of the 1980s".^{[citation needed]} David Byrne named it as one of his favourite albums, and Wim Wenders said that it was this album that introduced him to the music of De André, whom the director names as one of his favourite artists.^[7] As Pagani has repeatedly stated, De Andrè wrote the lyrics for the album, while the music was almost entirely Pagani's.

1990s[link]

In 1989 De André married Ghezzi; the following year a new album was issued, Le nuvole ("The Clouds"), which included two more songs in the Genoese dialect, one in the Gallurese dialect of Northern Sardinia ("Monti di Mola") and one in the Neapolitan dialect, the highly ironic "Don Raffaè". A new series of well received live concerts followed, from which a double LP, 1991 Concerti ("Concerts 1991"), was issued. In 1992 he started a new series of live concerts, performing in a number of theatres for the first time.

De André's last original album, Anime salve ("Saved Souls"), was issued in 1996. Written in collaboration with Ivano Fossati, it represents a sort of "spiritual will", and includes songs such as "Khorakhané" (dedicated to the Muslim Roma people), "Disamistade" (a return to his beloved Sardinian themes, which has been translated into English and sung by The Walkabouts) and "Smisurata preghiera" ("An Infinite Prayer"), based on the Colombian writer and storyteller Álvaro Mutis's The Adventures and Misadventures of Maqroll. De André also sang a Spanish version of this song, Desmedida plegaria.

In 1997, he undertook a new tour of theatre concerts and a new song collection called M'innamoravo di tutto was issued ("I Used to Fall in Love with Everything", a quote from one of his older songs, Coda di Lupo - Wolf's Tail) . The Anime salve concert tour went on up to the late summer of 1998, when De André stopped after the first symptoms of a serious illness, which was later diagnosed as lung cancer.

De André died in Milan on 11 January 1999, at 2:30 am. Two days later, he was buried in his native town, Genoa; the ceremony was attended by a crowd of about 20,000. He is buried in the Monumental Cemetery of Staglieno, in the De André family chapel.

Fabrizio De André and faith[link]

In the concept album La Buona Novella (1970), De André gives us the ultimate expression of his religious vision, making a clear humanization of the divine. In a concert at the Teatro Brancaccio in Rome in 1998, De André made the following statements about ^[8]:

« When I wrote La Buona Novella was 1969. It was then, in full students' fight and people less attentive regarded as an anachronism that record [...] And they did not realize that the Good News was meant to be an allegory: a comparison between the instances of the revolt of '68, and instances , spiritually higher but similar in an ethical-social point of view, built by a gentleman, 1969 years before, against the abuses of power, against the abuses of authority, in the name of egalitarianism and universal brotherhood. That man was called Jesus of Nazareth. And I think he was, and remains, the greatest revolutionary of all time. When I wrote the album I did't want to go in ways difficult to get to me, such as metaphysics or even theology. Then I thought that if God did not exist we should invent it, which is exactly what the human did since he set foot on earth »

« Probably the characters in La Buona Novella forgive a bit of sanctification, but I believe and I hope particularly for the benefit of their better and more humanization »

The attitude taken by De André against the political use of religion and the Church hierarchy is often sarcastic and highly critical about their contradictory behaviour, such as, for example, in the songs Un Blasfemo, Il Testamento di Tito, La ballata del Miché and the last verses of Bocca di Rosa^[9].

« I feel myself religious, and my religion is to feel part of a whole, in a chain that includes all creation and so to respect all elements, including plants and minerals, because, in my opinion, the balance is exactly given from the well-being in our surroundings. My religion does not seek the principle, you want to call it creator, regulator or chaos makes no difference. But I think that everything around us has its own logic and this is a thought to which I turn when I'm in difficulty, perhaps giving the names I've learned as a child, maybe because I lack the imagination to find out other ones »

After the kidnapping, the religious vision of De André had a new development;

« During the abduction helped me the faith in men, just where there wasn't faith in God. I have always said that God is a human invention, something utilitarian, a patch on the fragility ... But, however, with the kidnapping something has changed. I've not changed my mind, but it is certain that today swearing at least embarrasses me. »^[10]

Discography[link]

[edit] Albums^[11]

• Volume 1 (1967)
• Tutti morimmo a stento (1968)
• Volume 3 (1968)
• La buona novella (1970)
• Non al denaro non all'amore né al cielo (1971)
• Storia di un impiegato (1973)
• Canzoni (1974)
• Volume 8 (1975)
• Rimini (1978)
• Fabrizio De André (1981)
• Crêuza de mä (1984)
• Le nuvole (1990)
• Anime salve (1996)

Compilations[link]

• Tutto Fabrizio De André (1966)
• La canzone di Marinella (1968)
• Nuvole barocche (1968)
• Fabrizio De André (also known as the Black Anthology) (1976)
• Fabrizio De André (also known as the Blue Anthology) (1986)
• Il viaggio (1991)
• La canzone di Marinella (1995, reissue)
• Mi innamoravo di tutto (1997)
• Da Genova (1999)
• Peccati di gioventù (2000)
• In direzione ostinata e contraria (2005)
• In direzione ostinata e contraria 2 (2006)

Live albums[link]

• Fabrizio De André in concerto (1979)
• Fabrizio De André in concerto vol. 2 (1980)
• 1991 concerti (1991)
• In concerto (1999)
• Ed avevamo gli occhi troppo belli (2001)
• In concerto volume II (2001)
• Fabrizio De André e PFM in concerto (2007)

Singles[link]

• "Nuvole barocche"/"E fu la notte" (1961)
• "La ballata del Michè"/"La ballata dell'eroe" (1961)
• "Il fannullone"/"Carlo Martello ritorna dalla battaglia di Poitiers" (1963)
• "Il testamento"/"La ballata del Michè" (1963)
• "La guerra di Piero"/"La ballata dell'eroe" (1964)
• "Valzer per un amore"/"La canzone di Marinella" (1964)
• "Per i tuoi larghi occhi"/"Fila la lana" (1965)
• "La città vecchia"/"Delitto di paese" (1965)
• "La canzone dell'amore perduto"/"La ballata dell'amore cieco (o della vanità)" (1966)
• "Geordie"/"Amore che vieni, amore che vai" (1966)
• "Preghiera in Gennaio"/"Si chiamava Gesù" (1967)
• "Via del Campo"/"Bocca di rosa" (1967)
• "Caro amore"/"Spiritual" (1967)
• "La canzone di Barbara"/"Carlo Martello ritorna dalla battaglia di Poitiers" (1968)
• "La canzone di Marinella"/"Amore che vieni, amore che vai" (1968)
• "Il gorilla"/"Nell'acqua della chiara fontana" (1969)
• "Leggenda di Natale"/"Inverno" (1969)
• "Il pescatore"/"Marcia nuziale" (1970)
• "La stagione del tuo amore"/"Spiritual" (1970)
• "Nuvole barocche"/"E fu la notte" (1971, reissue)
• "Un matto (Dietro ogni scemo c'è un villaggio)"/"Un giudice" (1971)
• "Suzanne"/"Giovanna d'Arco" (1972)
• "La cattiva strada"/"Amico fragile" (1974)
• "Il pescatore"/"Carlo Martello ritorna dalla battaglia di Poitiers" (1978)
• "Una storia sbagliata"/"Titti" (1980)

Novels[link]

• Un destino ridicolo (1996), with Alessandro Gennari - ISBN 88-06-17591-2

Notes and References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Fabrizio De André

• Fabrizio De André at the Internet Movie Database
• Via del campo tribute website to Fabrizio De André. It hosts the [1] English translations of some of his songs.
• Antiwar Songs by Fabrizio De André translated in many different languages
• Simon Evnine, a philosophy professor at the University of Miami, has translated some of De André's songs in singable rhyme.
• "The other Fabrizio", with videos, songs, Italian/English lyrics and comments on Fabrizio's songs as well as articles on Fabrizio's anarchy.

This article is an orphan, as few or no other articles link to it. Please introduce links to this page from related articles; suggestions may be available. (February 2011)

Roberto Cacciapaglia (born 1953 in Milan) is an Italian pianist and composer.

Early life[link]

Cacciapaglia received his degree in music composition from the Conservatorio Giuseppe Verdi in Milan, under the direction of Bruno Bettinelli. While at the Conservatorio Giuseppe Verdi he also studied orchestra direction and electronic music. Roberto has also worked for the Department of Phonology at RAI (Italy's national television station) in Milan and has collaborated with the CNR (National Research Council) of Pisa, where he studied computer applications in the field of music.^[1]

Recordings[link]

• Sonanze - OHR (1975) - Cd Remastering Ducale (2000)
• Sei note in logica - Philips (1979) - Cd Remastering Ducale (2000)
• The Ann Steel Album - (1981) - Cd Remastering - Recording Arts (2003)
• Generazioni del cielo - Ed. Ricordi Dischi Fonit Cetra (1986) - Remastering Ducale (2000)
• Angelus Rock - Polygram Italic (1992)
• Tra cielo e terra - CGD (1996)
• Arcana - BMG Ricordi (2001)
• Tempus Fugit - BMG Ricordi (2003)
• Incontri con l'anima - Deltadischi (2005)
• Quarto tempo - Universal Music (2007)
• Canone degli spazi - Universal Music (2009)
• Ten Directions - Glance, Distribution by Sony Music (2010)

References[link]

External links[link]

• Composers website

It has been suggested that Adam Warren Sketchbook be merged into this article or section. (Discuss) Proposed since November 2011.

Adam Warren (born 1967) is an American comic book writer and artist who is most famous for his adaptation of the characters known as Dirty Pair into an American comic book, and for being one of the first American commercial illustrators to be influenced by the general manga style. He has also contributed to several Gen¹³ comics, worked as writer and character designer for the Marvel Comics series Livewires, and done numerous freelance works. His two latest projects are Iron Man: Hypervelocity and Empowered.^[1][2]

Early career[link]

Warren was born in New Hampshire. He began attending The Kubert School in Dover, New Jersey in 1985, but became unsure about his future in graphic art after less than a year of attendance. Over the Christmas break of his first year he chanced upon manga and anime, some of which was the original Dirty Pair, and this renewed his drive to become an artist. After a year of attempting to acquire the rights to produce a comic based on the series he was finally able to make inroads with Toren Smith and Studio Proteus. Warren put together a portfolio of Dirty Pair–related work which Smith then took to Sunrise Studios, but they were unimpressed with the work and negotiations went nowhere. Smith then contacted Takachiho Haruka, the creator of the Dirty Pair, who was much more impressed with Warren's art and Smith's ideas and agreed to license the characters for an American comic. The only requirement was that the character designs be somewhat different from the anime versions to avoid copyright issues with Sunrise. This directly resulted in Warren's first major work, Dirty Pair: Biohazards, which he co-wrote with Toren Smith and published through Studio Proteus and Eclipse Comics in 1989. The next two Dirty Pair works would be co-written with Smith but starting with the fourth book, Sim Hell, it became a solo project.

Later career[link]

Throughout the '90s and into the 2000s Warren produced several Dirty Pair comics and trade paperbacks, a four part Bubblegum Crisis series called Grand Mal^[3] as well as cover, pin-up and other "freelance" art. During this time he provided numerous cover illustrations, most notably covers for the X-Men, Star Wars, Fantastic Four (while he was also penning a few stories), and Appleseed series, as well as some trading card art, and even in-house Christmas cards for Studio Proteus. Between Dirty Pair works he also penned a three part Terminator series called Hunters and Killers in 1992. Towards the end of the '90s and into early the 2000s he was one of the main writers, and to a lesser extent artist, for the Gen¹³ series from Wildstorm comics. He has done art commission work for Spin Magazine and PSM magazine. His PlayStation comics usually relate to their major featured article and are found on the back page of the magazine. His art has also been featured in their swimsuit edition. He has also been known to do some translation and scripting work, Seraphic Feather and Cannon God Exaxxion being two of the only known credited examples.

Drawing style[link]

Warren's drawing style is heavily influenced by Japanese manga, like character design, kinetic line work, and vignettes with no dialogue where feelings are expressed only with the expression of faces and backgrounds. However, his style retained characteristics of American comics.

Warren makes very tight pencil layouts of the pages before they are inked, toned and colored.^[4] According to Warren himself, everyone who saw the layouts said, to his chagrin, that they liked them better than the final colored pages. On Empowered he tried a new style, the pages are greyscale reproductions of pencil "layouts", and they are neither inked nor toned.^[4] The layouts that he uses are cleaner and more tightened versions of his layouts for previous works.^[4]

This pencil layout style is also seen on several of his Dirty Pair short stories, and in a pair of pages of Gen13 Magical Drama Queen Roxy, a Gen¹³ miniseries, where one of the characters starts a deconstructing/poststructuralist device that deconstructs the comic through all the stages of production: color, color guides, inked page, tight pencil layout, rough pencil layout and script.

Recent works[link]

Warren's more recent works include yet more freelance art for various companies, including a long run on the back page of PSM Magazine, and his latest completed series: Livewires and Iron Man: Hypervelocity. There have also been rumors of another Dirty Pair series in the works (as of 2005). Although Warren had promised several times in the past to continue work with the Lovely Angels, it has been several years since his last major Dirty Pair work. To date at least two planned DP related series have failed to come to market; the first a side-story meant to follow the character Shasti and the second a DP/Superman cross-over. Warren also created several pictures based on the video game SSX 3 of the SSX series.^[5]

Warren's latest work, which he is be both writing and drawing, is a series of original graphic novels called Empowered. He describes the series as "an episodic 'sexy superhero comedy', mixing a twisted take on costumed crime-fighting, romance, and absurdist workplace humor with a strong dose of that 'manga flava'... and just a dash of the kinky." The first trade paper back was published by Dark Horse Comics in March 2007 after a slight delay, Volume Two was released in September 2007,^[6] Volume Three in March 2008 and Volume Four was released towards the end of October 2008 after a delay of about a month or so.^[7] Volume Five was released in late June 2009. Volume Six was released on September 21, 2010. Unusually, the series is neither inked nor colored, but rather sourced directly from pencil drawing, something which Warren has not done for a complete series before and is not the norm in the American comic book industry.

Bibliography[link]

Notes[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Adam Warren at deviantART
• Adam Warren on Myspace
• [1] at Marvel.com

Interviews[link]

This section includes a list of references, but its sources remain unclear because it has insufficient inline citations. Please help to improve this article by introducing more precise citations. (February 2010)

• 2004 Interview, part 1 at Pulp-Mag.com (web archive)
• 2004 Interview, part 2 at Pulp-Mag.com (web archive)
• June 2009 Interview at DarkHorse.com