Ezio

Formed in Cambridge in 1990, the English group Ezio started out as the duo of Ezio Lunedei and Mark "Booga" Fowell. Nationwide gigs helped sharpen their abilities before they issued their initial album, The Angel Song, through the independent Salami Records. That recording, together with their stage performances, drew major-label attention and produced a 1994 contract with BMG. Their debut full-length project, the Rupert Hine-produced Black Boots on Latin Feet, reached stores the following year. Diesel Vanilla appeared in 1997, after which bassist Lidia Cascarino and drummer-producer Peter Van Hooke joined to strengthen both live and studio efforts. The lineup later stabilized with Lunedei, Fowell, Cascarino, Lee Russell on percussion and additional instruments, and Alex Reeves replacing Van Hooke on drums. Continued touring and recording yielded three further albums across the next decade—Higher in 2000, The Making of Mr. Spoons in 2003, and Ten Thousand Bars in 2006—along with assorted live albums, DVDs, and compilations that preserved the band’s cult following in the U.K. and Europe. This Is the Day, a hard-driving folk-rock set released in 2010, opened the new decade, while Adam & the Snake followed in 2014, both on longtime label Tapete. The move to Jazzhaus brought Daylight Moon in 2016.