Giangilberto Monti: voice, guitar
Antonio ‘Heggy’ Vezzano: guitar
The storyteller and writer Giangilberto Monti, supported by eclectic blues guitarist Heggy Vezzano, retraces his lifelong artistic passions—from his own original songs to the classics of Milan-style theatre-cabaret, passing through the French maudits he has translated and arranged, such as Boris Vian, Léo Ferré, Serge Gainsbourg and Renaud, as well as tributes to the repertoires of Dario Fo, Fabrizio De André and Franco Califano, performed throughout his albums and shows. The title of the performance is itself part of the history of the Milanese singer-songwriter, who made his debut in the mid-1970s in a city alive with cultural ferment, alongside some of the most prominent names in Italian songwriting. For this reason, Monti chooses to perform in an acoustic duo, with no safety net—just as he did in 2023, when he released a video of De André’s Canzone del Maggio in a Franco-Milanese version, filmed in a cultural centre in Iseo. And now, with Heggy Vezzano’s blues guitar, he also presents his new album, which shares its title with this performance and sums up his many chapters as a full-fledged D.O.C. singer-songwriter.
Giangilberto Monti, storyteller and writer, composed his first songs in the mid-1970s. He moved in the world of the independent record labels of the time, met producer Nanni Ricordi and singer-songwriters Ricky Gianco and Ivan Cattaneo, and graduated in Chemical Engineering in Milan while signing with CBS. In his early albums—arranged first by Alberto Mompellio, then by Roberto Colombo ("L'ordine è pubblico?" – 1978; "Il giro del giorno" – 1979; "E domani?" – 1981)—he alternated poetic lyrics of social engagement with sarcastic pieces about contemporary society. He embarked on a parallel theatrical career: he studied singing with Cathy Berberian, acted with Dario Fo and Franca Rame, graduated from the Milan Civic School of Dramatic Arts, and wrote the rock-opera "Guardie e Ladri" (1982) with Flavio Premoli, keyboardist of PFM. The work, reissued digitally by Sony Music in 2017, was the first duet album in Italian pop-rock history and featured artists such as Alberto Camerini, Bernardo Lanzetti (former PFM vocalist), Francesco Di Giacomo of Banco del Mutuo Soccorso, and Anna Oxa. Monti continued to write songs with Premoli for Fiordaliso and Oxa, and co-wrote "La mia razza" (1990) with violinist Mauro Pagani for Mia Martini. Between the 1980s and 1990s he frequented the scene around Milan’s Zelig, collaborating as a writer for several comedians of the period. He wrote and performed with actress Lella Costa, created theatre-song shows with jazz pianist Gaetano Liguori and composer Rocco Tanica (Elio & Le Storie Tese), and scripted radio dramas for Swiss Italian Radio. After staging Dario Fo’s musical repertoire (1999–2000) with jazz singer Laura Fedele, he began his work as a writer and essayist with Garzanti, which published the "Dizionario dei Cantautori" (2003–2005, co-authored with Veronica Di Pietro) and the "Dizionario dei Comici e del Cabaret" (2008). In the same years he revisited the late-1960s era with the show "Un po’ dopo il piombo" and the album of unreleased songs "Ce n’est qu’un début", followed by the CD "Comicanti", in which he duets with about fifteen artists, performing the greatest songs in Italian musical comedy—from Ettore Petrolini to Dario Fo. The stage version directed by Vito Molinari featured Monti alongside Flavio Oreglio and Stefano Nosei (2010). Since 1994 he has cultivated his passion for French music: he undertook in-depth research on the work of Boris Vian, edited the volume "Boris Vian – Le canzoni", released an album of Vian’s songs adapted into Italian, and staged "La Banda Bonnot – storia del bandito anarchico Jules Bonnot", based on Vian’s songs. The show won the Swiss Prix Suisse in 2004 as a musical radio drama and was released on CD by FolkClub Ethnosuoni. This was followed by "Maledette Canzoni" (2006), a recorded homage to Vian, Léo Ferré and Serge Gainsbourg—of whom Monti was the first Italian translator—then the 2011 show "Belle Équipe" with comedian Alberto Patrucco and singer Andrea Mirò, preceded by the book "Maledetti Francesi" (2010), in which he recounts the lives and songs of the chansonniers. He completed the project in 2017 with the CD "Canti Ribelli", translating songs by the French artist Renaud, the last of the French maudits—the soundtrack to a new radio drama for Swiss Italian Radio, "Concerto per Coluche". In the ironic "Romanzo musicale di fine millennio" (2016) he chronicled the end of the vinyl record era, followed by "E sempre allegri bisogna stare" (2017), on the musical world of Dario Fo, whom he considers one of his stage masters. Then came the anthology "Tempi Strani" (2021) and the more recent albums "Françaislien" (2023)—linked to the publishing project "Gli anni d’oro della canzone francese, 1940–1970", released also in France—and "Franco Califano – il Prévert di Trastevere" (2024), inspired by the book of the same name co-written with Turin music journalist Vito Vita, which in the same year became an original radio drama for RSI Lugano. Shortly after came a musical “street guide” dedicated to his native city, "Strà Milano" (2025), written with singer-songwriter Alessio Lega, while he continues to tour with his recital "Voci Ribelli", dedicated to his long career across music, theatre, and cabaret.
Antonio “Heggy” Vezzano. Born in 1966 and self-taught, he fell in love with Black music in 1985 and specialized in Blues–Soul–Funk. In 1987 he founded Bluesatisfaction and Dinamyte Band, two historic Milanese bands. In 1994 he met Andy J. Forest, beginning a collaboration that continues to this day. In 2001 he formed SoulSpinner with Sergio Cocchi, Marcello Schena and Luca Tonani, performing at three editions of the Umbria Jazz Festival and Umbria Jazz Winter. In 2006 he recorded "Real Stories" with Andy J. Forest in the legendary Paity Street Studios in New Orleans; the album won the Beat Award that same year as Best Louisiana Blues Album. In 2010 he joined the Smoke Orchestra, Nina Zilli’s official band. In 2014 he was hired by Emma Marrone for the summer tour "Limited Edition" and the winter tour "3.0". In 2015 he recorded Giuliano Palma’s album "Groovin’", as well as the soundtrack for the musical "Grease", the theme song for Giorgio Panariello’s TV comedy, and collaborated with Nina Zilli on the soundtrack of Pannofino’s film "My Father Jack" (2016).
In April 2016 he joined Giuliano Palma’s band for the "Groovin’" tour, and in September became guitarist for Francesco Renga’s "Scriverò il tuo nome" tour. In 2017 he toured with Francesco Renga, Nina Zilli, and Giuliano Palma. Throughout his long career he has collaborated with Laura Fedele, Daniele Tenca, Sergio Cocchi, Riccardo Maffoni, Aida Cooper, Ronnie Jones and Zibba, as well as Ronnie Jones, Jerry Dugger, Blues Guitar Heroes, Babbutzi Orkestar, Sistha Awa, Anders Osborne, Kirk Franklin, Johnny Sansone, JJ Giuliano, Mark Adams, Washboard Chez, Syl Johnson, Irma Thomas, Lenny McMillan, Rosita Steel, Tony Green, Queen Ann, Archi Love, Charly Wood, Denise La Salle, Sugar Blue, Melvia Cick Roger, Otis Clay, Malina Moye, Steave Logan, Paul Think, Sonny Rhodes, Vaneese Thomas, Keisha Jackson, Caroline Mas and Guy Davis.
