In the last years of his life, Giovanni only played solo. These are the albums that you can listen to (with the exception of ‘Quel che importa’ from 1994, with Luca Vittori, and ‘Helsinki’ with Chris Max Jones). The rest of his discography is on Bandcamp.
About Giovanni
Have always been fascinated by the idea of «being an instrument», like a brush dipped in color that is used by a painter moved by that natural energy that creates shapes, cosmic geometric balances always in harmony with the immortality of the universe.
‘Quel che importa’
What matters is love
even when a friend dies
and we believe that all is lost
the stars, colours, life itself
when you believe that nothingness possesses everything, even solitude
And you feel threatened by those who want to cancel history
to prevent you from remembering, from thinking
When you lived that transient moment
and you only remember the taste, the flavour
and that you would like it to be unique no longer, but universal, eternal
even when you wish you could feel
lying on the ground, the rotation of the world
and with it also the cosmos that envelops it
when, all in all, you sense that in life
you can’t just relate
to what you see and what you touch
and when you understand that identity is not acquired.
based on what one does or owns.
but only on the basis of what one is
then yes, you will understand
that the most precious, the most important thing
Is love.
Giovanni Cognoli
Text said by Giovani in the track of the same name (January 1994)
In my view, Gianni, artistically speaking, was an architect of humanism, a musician with an extremely solid and structured vision of his work, which he cared for in every single detail. For this reason, rather than being tied to a stable group, he built different collectives from time to time, aimed at completing specific projects. The musician friends he involved used to become cornerstones of his vision, because they were capable of naturally providing the essential contribution he believed was necessary to bring his art to life. It was his simultaneously analytical and experimental approach that made working with him so fascinating. His professional soundness, his continuous yet thoughtful dedication, never frenzied, and the easiness with which everyone was enabled to take part in his creations remain a prime example of how art should always be experienced and disseminated.
After he went abroad, I haven’t had the opportunity see or speak to Gianni very often. I can say that his absence already represented a void for me, a sometimes silent, some other times more burdensome absence, but his art has contributed to making my life more beautiful, and I will always maintain an indelible memory of this.
October 26, 2020, Luca Vittori, (Musician and friend)
Spread this music.
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Inspiring souls.
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Regarde avec mes yeux
Regarde avec mes yeux (Looking through my eyes) is a message for my tender husband, since I went to the places he dreamed of, like the Salar d’Uyuni, far from digital society and consumers, where nature is still a queen. And I came back with images of these landscapes (photos or videos) to accompany the publication of his music!
Letters to Uchronia
Text written in the spring of 2021, based on biographical fragments and titles of my husband’s compositions. ‘Uchronia’, from Greek language, is like a dimension outside of time, and this text resonates with the last album composed by him ‘Letters from Uchronia’ in 2020.
Licancabur volcano · Bolivia
“
Music is always an extension of personality of the person who creates it and, in it, we can get an idea of the person’s character, their energy and their way of thinking. I am convinced that the spirit lives in the things that one has done, after the flesh is no longer there, and even more so in music, which is ethereal and seeks to nest itself in the ears of a receiver in order to be, so your Giovanni has not left yet and he will not until his music stops.I’m very sure he is (and I say ‘is’ -in the present- and not ‘was’), very talented, because a normal musician (conformist) would not have been interested in such a complete and beautiful instrument, and this says that his talent was exceptional. So, the best thing you can do is finish that project of editing the music, and with it in your ears, maybe, take that last trip together to Mexico, listening to it. In my country, we believe that no one leaves completely as long as there is someone who remembers you, and music is thought.
Guillermo Maciel
personal friend, bass player.
