Rossana Casale

Born in New York (July 21, 1959) to an American father and a Venetian mother, Rossana Casale moved to Italy soon after. She started working in music at a very young age, as a backing vocalist on various albums between the mid and late 1970s, while also forming a choir made up of American kids. She went on to study at the “Giuseppe Verdi” Conservatory in Milan (voice, percussion and electronic music).

In 1982 she made her debut with the single “Didin”, written together with Alberto Fortis, her partner at the time, for whom she was a backing vocalist for a long time. In 1984 her first LP, “Rossana Casale”, was released, produced by Pfm. In 1986 she took part in the Sanremo Festival with the song “Brividi”, produced by Maurizio Fabrizio. In December she won Premiatissima '86 with the song “Nuova vita”. The following year saw the release of the album “La via dei misteri”, her musical high point, again produced by Maurizio Fabrizio, and she returned to Sanremo with Destino. That same year she was a guest at Umbria Jazz.

In 1989 she appeared again at Sanremo with “A che servono gli dei”, coinciding with the release of the album “Incoerente jazz”. In 1991 she took part in Sanremo for the fourth time with “Terra”, which preceded the release of the album “Lo stato naturale”, where jazz influences mixed with ethnic sounds.

In 1993 she made her last appearance at Sanremo alongside Grazia Di Michele: the song they presented – “Gli amori diversi” – took third place. Shortly afterwards came “Alba argentina”, featuring several songs co-written with Di Michele.

In 1994 Rossana Casale released her first all-jazz work – “Jazz in me” – recorded live with her quartet. Her first official jazz tour followed. She then achieved great success with the musical “Un Americano a Parigi”, returning to the recording scene in 1996 with the album “Nella notte un volo”, produced and written by herself together with Andrea Zuppini.

After various experiences (performing a lied penned by Maurizio Fabrizio – “Per le terre assai lontane” – performed on tour with the orchestras of Italy's most prestigious Teatri Stabili, and a theatrical tour – “Del magico mondo” – featuring poems and songs devised by Giorgio Albertazzi, Luigi Lamannis and Federico Zecchin), Rossana Casale returned to the public eye in 1999 with a major work, “Jacques Brel in me”, presented live on tour.

In 2000 she released the splendid “Strani frutti”, featuring songs by great 20th-century performers. That same year she returned to success on stage with “A qualcuno piace caldo” (in the role that had been Marilyn Monroe's), directed by Saverio Marconi. Following her appearance on the TV show “Operazione trionfo”, which helped bring her to a wider audience, she went on to release “Riflessi” (an anthology featuring one new track alongside other re-arranged songs) and another major work, “Billie Holiday in me”, further proof of the full maturity she had reached as a performer.

Preceded by the single Gioir d'amore, in 2006 she released “Circo immaginario”, an album inspired by the book of the same name by Sara Cerri. On 21 June 2009 she was one of the stars of the benefit concert event at Milan's San Siro stadium, Amiche per l'Abruzzo, conceived by Laura Pausini in the wake of the 2009 L'Aquila earthquake, where she duetted with Mariella Nava and Andrea Mirò on “Spalle al muro”.

In 2010 she joined Rai 2 as a vocal coach on “X-Factor” for the Under-24 Men category led by Mara Maionchi; that same year she took part in the Concerts sotto le Stelle at the Pescara International Music Festival, accompanied by guitarist Maurizio Di Fulvio. In 2013 she moved to Sky as a vocal coach on “X-Factor” for the 16-24 Women category led by Mika.

In 2014 she released “Il Signor G e l'amore”, a tribute album to Giorgio Gaber.

In 2016 and 2017 she was once again a vocal coach on X Factor.

She taught jazz vocals in the Popular Music programme at the Ghedini Conservatory in Cuneo from 2009 to 2011, then at the Arrigo Boito Conservatory in Parma until 2016, taught jazz vocals in 2017 at the Licino Refice Conservatory in Frosinone and in 2018 at the Luisa D'Annunzio Conservatory in Pescara. In 2019 she was appointed as a tenured teacher of pop-rock vocals at the A. Boito Conservatory in Parma.

In 2018 she made the album “Round Christmas”, distributed by Egea.

During 2019 she began a collaboration with her friends and colleagues Grazia Di Michele and Mariella Nava, a project called Cantautrici, which saw its first two concerts as a trio in Milan on 22 December and in Rome on 26 December. “Segnali universali” is their first single, released in spring 2020, followed by “Anime di vetro”, released on International Women's Day 2021, and “Sotto un altro cielo” in December 2021. On 8 April 2022 the album “Trialogo” was released, in collaboration with Grazia Di Michele and Mariella Nava.

(Gianni Vona + RedOR)

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