Carlo Actis Dato

continued

His clowning cannot hide the fact that Dato is a virtuoso performer, a master of traditional as well as extended techniques on all his instruments. He uses circular breathing with ease, so that he can maintain long passages without any breaks, and his broad range of timbral colors provides variety during his solo concerts. Not many musicians can play the bass clarinet and baritone saxophone with such power and clarity.

Dato plays with many different bands, but he also roams the world alone, lugging his three horns and performing in every possible place, from concert halls to street corners and primary schools. His broad, singing tone, his love of simple riffs and melodies, and his zany humor are simply irresistible, as is evidenced by his latest solo CD, The Moonwalker, which contains pieces recorded in front of children in Japan, on street corners in Nepal, and in Morocco, Mali, and Bali. On Thursday, February 7, Dato performs in the more traditional confines of the Kerrytown Concert House.   

[Originally published in February, 2002.]