Gianmaria Testa was born near Cuneo (in Italy’s Piedmont region) in 1958. He grew up in a family of farmers and he learned as self -taught to play guitar, writing his first songs as soon as he learned his chords. Gianmaria played and sang in several local rock bands before discovering his true, solitary vocation. In 1993 and 1994 he won first prize at the Recanati Festival for emerging singer-songwriters, where he met a French producer (Nicole Courtois) who took a liking to his demo tape. His first CD, Montgolfières, came out on Label Bleu in 1995. Gianmaria’s warm, dusky voice tells stories of wind and memories, earth and fog, objects that soar from one horizon to another and ladies in train stations (“Donne nelle stazioni”) who head off on someone else’s arm without looking back. His music is personal and richly melodic, flecked with accents of tango, bossa nova, habañera and jazz, but as spare and essential as a pencil sketch, imparting great beauty with simplicity and directness.
On the heels of Montgolfières’ superb reviews, Gianmaria made his début at one of Paris’s most important clubs in February 1996, New Morning. He showed himself to be an artist of great presence, communicating the joy of making music with such outstanding sidemen as David Lewis (trombone), Jon Handelsman (sax, clarinet), François and Louis Moutin (bass and drums), Leonardo Sanchez (guitar) and René Michel (accordion, piano).
In October 1996 Gianmaria released his second CD: Extra-muros, the very first release on Tôt ou Tard, Warner France’s new label devoted to songwriters. His voice seemed to have gained new richness and depth, and there was a new freedom to the instrumental playing, featuring his comrades in art from New Morning. The driving rhythms of jazz, lively fanfares, piano solos, sudden silences: they all served to emphasize Gianmaria’s sincerity and his subtle, elegant way of telling tales of melancholy and quiet joy.
In February 1997, five months after the release of Extra-muros, Gianmaria gave a concert at the Olympia. He was one of the last musicians to perform at the legendary Paris music hall before its renovation. The engagement marked a key moment in his young career, which, in the space of two years, saw him go from being a completely unknown Italian singer-songwriter to making a chance début in France to becoming a runaway success. Still, those familiar with his CDs and live appearances couldn’t help but note the composure, confidence, sincerity and utter lack of self-importance with which he made these enormous strides.
Thanks to his appearance at the Olympia, the Italian press finally began to take note of Gianmaria: critics were first surprised, then unanimous in hailing this important new voice in the Italian singer‑songwriter tradition. In subsequent months, Gianmaria undertook tours in France, Italy, Portugal, and Canada: roughly a hundred dates, in small clubs and major theatres, nearly all capped with prolonged standing ovations.
