Riccardo Gioggi - A Theory Of Dynamics

Riccardo Gioggi

A Theory Of Dynamics

by Rebecca Miller at 25 March 2013, 9:33 AM

Riccardo Gioggi is an Italian guitar virtuoso, and “A Theory Of Dynamics” is his debut solo album. He manages to pull off showcasing his talents, whilst not making it feel like he’s showing off, a difficult balance to achieve.

Instrumental albums can be a tricky thing to do right. You’ve got to keep the listener interested in what you’re doing, without coming across as if you’re trying too hard. Gioggi is largely successful in this sense, changing up his music enough to keep me interested from start to finish, without making the album feel disjointed or ‘bitty’. It says something that he has been signed on to the Digital Nations label, as it was founded by Steve Vai. The music he plays is an interesting mix of Rock, Funk, Prog and some good old Metal, which may sound odd but it most definitely works. He lets each of these elements feature on different tracks. I think my favorite on the album was his collaboration with bassist Michael Manring, “Air”, which I found to be very laid back, but very complex, and very enjoyable to listen to.

It’s obvious from word go that Riccardo Gioggi is a very talented guitarist, and that virtuoso description is definitely not far off. He describes him work ethic as ‘just to create beautiful music at the best I can, and then playing it at high performance levels’, a sentiment that I would be more than inclined to agree with. I wouldn’t say there’s any stand out riffs here, but the melodies he has created pull you into the album, and even though it’s a little over forty minutes long, it really feels like no time at all, which is all credit to him. Gioggi is still pretty young, having only been born in 1983, so it’s a little surprising that this is only his debut album, at times he can feel like a seasoned veteran. Obviously this isn’t a perfect album, but it’s tight, it’s well produced, and I think he can count this as a success.

Even if you’re not usually into instrumental albums, you should give this a try, it didn’t drag like some do, and it was a real pleasure to listen to. I think Gioggi has got a bright future ahead of him, and I’m looking forward to see what he does next.