Raúl Di Blasio - Biography
By J Poet
Raul Di Blasio is an internationally known composer and pianist who plays a relaxing blend of classical, pop, Latin, smooth jazz, and easy listening music. Di Blasio was born in Zapala, Argentina in 1949, and showed an early aptitude for the piano. He began studying classical piano, with a series of teachers, when he was six, showing a particular affinity for the work of Beethoven and Rachmaninoff. His family was poor and could not afford a piano, so he could only practice at the homes of his teachers. He began composing his own music by whistling melodies to his father in an effort to remember them.
In 1966, along with everyone else in the world, Di Blasio heard the Beatles and dropped classical piano for rock’n’roll. He put together a rock band called Los Diabólicos and played with them for seven years, touring heavily and making a few undistinguished albums. The band fell apart in 1973. At the urging of his parents he returned to university in Buenos Aires to get a degree, but the music bug had already taken hold. Between classes he practiced music, sometimes playing for 12 hours a day.
He returned to classical music for a while and became a well-known concert pianist, touring South America until 1978, when he landed a five-year musical residency at a hotel in the Chilean resort city of Viña del Mar. While he was there, he became famous for his ability to improvise music in a style that blended pop, Latin, and classical music. He wasn’t making much money, but the long sets he played allowed him to develop his unique compositions.
People started asking him where they could buy his music. To satisfy listeners, Di Blasio put out his first album on his own small label, entirely self-financed. When EMI Chile got wind of the album the signed him and in 1983 he issued his “official” debut LP on EMI Chile. He made several albums for EMI Chile, each selling better than the last. The Latin American press called him El Pianista de Todos - The People’s Pianist – but he wanted more than a regional following. In 1987, he moved to Miami and signed with RCA/BMG/Sony. His first albums Sur de America (1991 RCA International), Barroco (1991 RCA International), and En tiempo de Amor (1993 RCA International) were major hits throughout Latin America, but it was El Piano de América (1993 RCA International) that made him famous in the rest of the world. It went gold and the follow up El Piano de América 2 (1994 RCA International), with lush accompaniment by the London Symphony Orchestra, went platinum.
Solo (1997 RCA International), which actually is not a solo album, but a musical expression of longing, was another international hit and led to a tour of Asia. On Desde México: El Piano De América (1998 RCA International) Di Blasio interprets his favorite Mexican songs and collaborates with José José, Juan Gabriel, and Mariachi Vargas de Tecalitlán.
Christmas (1998 RCA International) included easy listening Latin versions of familiar standards, and on Gardel Tango (2002 RCA International) he gave his interpretations of the music he grew up with in Argentina. Other albums of note include the Brazilian flavored Brasileirinho (2000 Sony Brazil), Di Blasio... y Amigos (2002 Sony International) another album of Mexican songs with Julio Iglesias, Los Tri-O, Rocio Dural and other singers sitting in, Clave De Amor (2003 Sony International) featuring Venezuelan crooner Jose Luis Rodriguez supplying simmering vocals, and Primavera (2008 Sony International.) Di Blasio has several collections of his hits available including Grande Exitos (1996 Sony international) and the CD/DVD box La Historia Del Piano de America...Los Exitos (2006 Sony International.)
