Gino Vannelli Biography And Links

Gino Vannelli is the son of Russ Vannelli, big band musician who played with the likes of Bix Belair and Maynard Ferguson. During his formative years growing up in Montreal, Vannelli played the drums and went to McGill University for music theory.
During this period he formed a band with his brother Joe while brother Ross was added later. Gino and Joe would eventually be signed by RCA Records and put out some less than stellar recordings under the name Vann Elli.
Having toured the Canadian provinces as Gino Vannelli And Good Friends, the pair headed to Los Angeles with demo tape in hand, to seek fame and fortune.
After being rejected by nearly every US record label, Gino waited to ambush A & M Records co-founder Herb Alpert outside the gates of the label's LA offices with his guitar. After about 4 hours Alpert showed up and Vannelli practically ran him over. Following a scuffle with security Alpert realized Vannelli was not a crazed fan and allowed him to audition. Alpert granted Vannelli the record deal under one condition - Alpert had to produce his debut album. Which happened in 1973. The album didn't produce a single and languished in unattended fashion.
His sophomore release, 'Powerful People' on the other hand, was enthusiastically received. 1974, saw the beginnings of the disco era, and the lead off single "People Gotta Move" reached number 22 on Billboard's Hot 100 in October and garnered a Grammy nomination.
At the height of his disco-stud rise to fame, Vannelli took a left turn and released 1975's 'Storm At Sunup' which was pure jazz with a continuous synth injection. A & M got nervous and insisted Vannelli return to the accessible funk and dance material he had previously taken to the top of the charts. Vannelli compromised and released commercially viable singles with enough conceptual material to satisfy his own artistic sense.
Vannelli's fifth album, ' A Pauper In Paradise', mixed classical and pop as the sessions were recorded in London with the help of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.
With the release of 'Brother To Brother' in 1978, Vannelli found himself with much sought after hit records in "I Just Wanna Stop", "Appaloosa" and "The Wheels of Life"). The success of the album brought him a Grammy nomination for Best Pop Performance' and major radio airplay. On the concert front, the Brother To Brother' tour played major world venues like Carnegie Hall as well as larger arenas. In Canada, Vannelli, along with his brothers Joe and Ross, had by now earned five consecutive Juno awards as Canada's Top Male Vocalist, Producer, and Engineer Of the Year, respectively. It would also mark the end of his tenure with A&M Records.
Vannelli re-assessed his career and signed on with Arista who released 1981's 'Nightwalker' which further explored the pop genre. The single, "Living Inside Myself", reached number 7 on the Billboard charts. His association with Arista was short lived however due to a house cleaning at the label and Vannelli took another break to once more redefine not only his sound but his look.
In 1985 Vannelli decided to haul out the big production guns by utilizing the studio he had built in the intervening years and run by him and his brother. 'Black Cars' was a contemporary '80's album with serious production values. The album spawned four hit singles including the title track and put Vannelli at the top of the charts and the cover of magazines.
The Vannelli's literally carbon copied the successful 'Black Cars' album on 1987's 'Big Dreamers Never Sleep', but tipped the style more towards Latin and R&B flavors. "Wild Horses" hit the charts as did "Young Lover" and "Persona Non Grata" received major airplay in Canada and Europe, yet the USA had all but ignored it.
With the release of 'Inconsolable Man' in 1990, Vannelli delighted fans everywhere by launching his first world tour in 12 years. As a celebration of this rare occasion a live album was recorded at Le Spectrum in Montreal on November 18, 1990 and released as 'Live In Montreal' in 1992.
Once again, during the lay-off between 'Inconsolable Man' and his next studio recording Vannelli switched musical gears by tuning into his own spirituality and revisiting his jazz influence . The results would be released five years later as 'Yonder Tree'.
Vannelli is promising a commercial comeback once again with 1998's 'Slow Love'.

Gino Vannelli Links To CDs, Sheetmusic, and More

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