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Biography
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Los Angeles-based guitarist and composer Neil Rambaldi is known for his virtuosic guitar abilities and epic brand of instrumental Rock Fusion with his Hard Rock, Classical, Funk, Blues, Latin, and Jazz influences bursting at the seams. Sometimes adrenaline-pumping and other times emotionally tingling, his songwriting is a force of no questionability.
From moments of sultry rhythms and deep introspection to an all-out epic soundscape, Neil’s acclaimed solo debut album Perpetual Horizon has garnered radio airplay in 14 countries to date since its independent release on his own record label Prismism Music. The album, which was also produced and performed entirely by Neil with the exception of a keyboard guest appearance on one of the eleven tracks, has also accumulated countless rave reviews in numerous music publications and major music websites internationally including 20th Century Guitar Magazine (USA/Canada), Guitar Chef (Italy), Metal Era (Chile), and many more. In some of these publications as well as on live radio, Neil has been featured in several interviews both in the U.S. and abroad.
Growing up in a suburb of New York City, in New Jersey, Neil honed his skills as a musician and artist, playing shows with many different bands in a multitude of styles, including his own for several years in the Northeast. He also began doing session work and teaching guitar during that time.
As a session guitarist, Neil has worked with several artists both live and in the studio including former Universal Records recording artist Lilian Garcia, former A2 Records recording artist John Taglieri, Dreamscape Music Group’s Tiffany Nicole, and Kenny Simmons, former member of the three-time Grammy award-winning group The Commodores. With Lilian Garcia, Neil has made appearances on both regional and national television in the U.S., and with John Taglieri, Neil has served as musical director for Taglieri’s live band in addition to his lead guitar duties.
Neil has also produced numerous studio recordings for various artists in the New York area including two internationally distributed albums of the group Rivera Bomma released on Secret Port Records (Greece) in 2002, and Mausoleum Records (Belgium) in 2006 respectively, among others.
Numerous tracks from Perpetual Horizon have also been licensed for use in various forms of media including commercials for AMC TV, Rush HD's action sport T.V. series Nomads, the feature film 199 Lives, the action sport DVD ThrillBillies, the Wii video game Dancing With The Stars sequel, a video game trailer for XGen Studios, Carmichael Training Systems’ audio workouts, and many others.
In addition to his musical accomplishments as a guitarist, solo-artist, and composer, Neil has also become a highly sought guitar instructor over the years and is presently a faculty member at two L.A. institutions including Paul Green School of Rock in Hollywood.
Amidst having a full schedule as a guitar instructor, Neil is currently in the studio writing and recording his second solo album, and is anticipating its release sometime in 2009.
Since moving to the west coast in 2008, Neil’s musical roots continue to grow wider, deeper and finer. With an awe-inspiring creativity and his long-lived spirit, Neil speaks a universal language of fire and passion through his music that all humans can related to. It is the very fundamental fabric of longing for something beautiful that we can connect with, and Neil delivers this very powerful feeling through his music. So take a journey down the lonesome highway, and discover "what is" Neil Rambaldi...
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From the land they call New Jersey, in a suburb of New York City, one of Neil Rambaldi's first signs of intrigue and affinity for music as a child was when he started looking through the piano bench in the living room wondering how some of the sheet music that he had found actually sounded. Within a year or so, around the age of 7, Neil picked up his first of three long since forgotten instruments -- the violin... followed by the alto-sax... and later on the trumpet some years later, with which Neil gained the "1st trumpet" position in his grammar school's humble little student orchestra. Though, as Neil's interest grew stronger toward the sound of Rock music, his trumpet began to collect dust. From these two events, one of the biggest moments in Neil's life transpired. After nagging his parents for quite a few years to let him go and buy a guitar, Neil finally took a trip to the local music store at the age of 16 and traded in his trumpet toward the value of his first guitar. From here, Neil had a new found passion.
Aside
from
the
good ol'
Rock
&
Roll,
Neil's
musical
appetite
diversified
over
time
toward
other
specific
styles
including
Progressive
Rock,
Progressive
Metal,
and
some
forms
of
Blues,
Jazz
Fusion,
Flamenco,
and
Classical. Primarily
a
self-taught
guitarist,
Neil's
music
discipline
has
been
honed
greatly
from
his
intense
self-study
of
both
music
theory
and
the
guitar
techniques
found
in
these
styles.
He
jointly
developed
his
understanding
of
music
theory
from
the
classical
standpoint
in
the
School
of
Music
at
William
Paterson
University
where
he
received
his
Bachelor
of
Arts
degree
in
Music
in
1999.
As
part
of
his
studies,
Neil's
degree
program
also
included
a
concentration
in
audio
recording,
which
Neil
maintained
a
parallel
interest
in
throughout.
Never
taking
a
private
guitar
lesson
a
day
in
his
life,
Neil
did
however,
have
the
opportunity
(in
the
midst
of
his
college
years)
to
spend
a
week
in
a
classroom
with
a
handful
of
other
guitarists
in
the
presence
of
the
extraordinary
Fusion
player
Jon
Finn,
where
Neil
attended
the
Summer
Guitar
Sessions
at
Berklee
College
of
Music
in
1997.
It
was
around
this
time
that
Neil's
ear
truly
began
opening
up
to
alternate
playing
styles
more
so
than
in
the
past.
Though
Neil
decidedly
never
became
a
performance
major
for
guitar
in
his
college
studies,
he
maintained
his
self-studies
and
became
part
of
the
Classical
Guitar
Ensemble
in
his
senior
year
at
William
Paterson.
He
also
honed
his
songwriting
craft
producing
some
of
his
first
complete
solo
recordings
during
this
time,
discovering
his
true
passion
for
creating
instrumental
music
using
his
guitar
as
the
"voice"
of
his
songs.
Neil
also
spent
time
during
college
honing
his
musical
creativity
with
peers
among
the
local
scene
in
various
band
projects
ranging
from
Progressive
Rock
to
Funk.
While constantly composing and developing his own musical works, Neil also managed to continue with his interest in music production, earning his way up the ladder in the New York area as a recording engineer. Eventually, Neil landed a job at Sony Music Studios in Manhattan working alongside some of the biggest names in the business. By this time, Neil's studio experiences already included sessions with artists such as Marc Anthony, Harry Connick Jr., Eve, Pat Metheny, Irene Reid, the late Charles Earland, producer Bob Power (A Tribe Called Quest, Erykah Badu) and many others. It was at Sony that after spending only a few months Neil succeeded greatly in production, but he wanted more... With his incredibly intense engineering schedule, he missed too much -- the joy of being an artist himself. It was at this time that Neil decided to channel his energy into his career as a solo artist and session guitarist while still freelance engineering, along with starting to work as a producer for other artists, continuing to teach guitar lessons (which he began during college), and somehow maintaining extra jobs including working at a music store and later becoming a studio manager at a local music rehearsal facility -- all to support himself. It is this character that has brought Neil where he is today...
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