Gaudi

Gaudi, whose full name is Daniele Gaudi Cenacchi, draws from the deep, pulsating low frequencies and disorienting reverberations typical of dub reggae to underpin a body of work that fuses an array of traditions such as Indian classical, jazz, ambient, new wave, and pop. Having launched his professional activity in Italy during the opening years of the 1980s and then settling in London in 1995, the worldbeat trailblazer has issued more than twelve albums that feature joint efforts or reworkings alongside Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Pete Namlook, and the Orb. Beyond these projects he has taken on production or remix assignments for hundreds of performers, extending from worldbeat ensembles like Suns of Arqa to pop ensembles including Simple Minds and INXS, while also creating material for countless television programs and advertisements and maintaining an extensive schedule of performances around the world.

His path opened in the early 1980s when he played keyboards in multiple new wave outfits before entering the reggae group Bamboo Company. Once that ensemble disbanded, Gaudi joined three former bandmates to form Raptus, a hip-hop/punk collective styled after the Beastie Boys and delivering its raps in Italian. Refining his abilities as a producer and studio partner, he initiated his first solo endeavor under the billing Lele Gaudi in 1987. He established the production company Tubi Forti, collaborated with several Italian hip-hop and pop acts, and issued early Italian house tracks through ventures such as 4T Thieves and National Rare Groove. Record labels hesitated over how to promote a fully Italian-language ragga album, so his first full-length release, Basta Poco, did not appear until Mercury issued it in 1991; the single “Malinconico Love” earned MTV airplay. International touring followed, placing him on stages with reggae figures including Ziggy Marley, Maxi Priest, and Jimmy Cliff. By the time his second album, Gaudium Magnum, arrived in 1993, he had adopted the shortened name Gaudi.

In 1994 he explored electronic directions such as trip-hop and drum’n’bass under the Dub Alchemist alias, frequently incorporating Theremin to heighten its otherworldly quality. Relocating to London in 1995, he founded Metatron Studio and the Sub Signal label. Together with Pauli Atzei, recording as Ultraviolet, he completed the ambient dub album Sound of Anatomy. His remixing activity intensified, yielding credits on hit singles by Cool Jack, Mansun, and Peter Andre among others, while he supplied music to MTV, the BBC, ITV, and additional networks plus numerous commercials. Antenna released his third album, Earthbound, in 1999; the ambitious blend of tribal and electronic elements brought global attention, leading to the companion release Earthbound in Dub the next year. He launched the project Orchestral World Groove with DJ Pathaan and contributed to several film soundtracks. The 2002 album My Beautiful Laundrette accompanied a Hanif Kureishi play, and the same year he formed Weirdub with Luca Gatti and Paul Cari, whose album Recreational also surfaced then.

Interchill Records put out his fifth album, Bass, Sweat & Tears, in 2004; it ranks among his strongest commercial successes, with tracks licensed to dozens of compilations. Recognition also arrived for his remix of Bob Marley’s “Soul Shakedown Party” and for hit singles he co-wrote for Italian pop artist Irene Grandi. Cult ambient imprint em:t issued the 2005 collaboration Gaudi:Testa 1105 with sound therapist Antonio Testa. Work with ambient techno originator Pete Namlook produced the album R:sonate, released early in 2006 on Namlook’s Fax +49-69/450464 label. Further partnerships ranged from electronic dub acts Sounds from the Ground and Ashtech to reggae veterans Horace Andy and Lee “Scratch” Perry. The most widely praised undertaking of that period, Dub Qawwali, paired previously unreleased vocals by Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan with Gaudi’s inventive dub-fusion productions. The project initiated an ongoing association with Six Degrees Records, home to other world-fusion artists such as Bombay Dub Orchestra and Cheb I Sabbah. Dub Qawwali Remixes appeared in 2008, incorporating the emerging dubstep style through a Pinch rework.

Following several seasons as a vocal coach on The X Factor, Gaudi issued No Prisoners in 2010, featuring contributions from Michael Franti, Dr. Israel, Dub Gabriel, and additional guests. The next year he began a collaboration with the Orb’s Alex Paterson and vocalist Chester Taylor; the resulting group, Screen, released its debut album We Are Screen on Malicious Damage in 2012. His double-CD mix Everlasting also appeared that year on Danish label Iboga Records. While continuing to tour in support of No Prisoners, he closed 2012 with a performance at the Pyramids of Giza in Egypt. The follow-up album In Between Times arrived in 2013, again with guests including Black Uhuru’s Michael Rose, Twilight Circus, and Dennis Bovell. Dub, Sweat & Tears emerged in 2014, a decade after Bass, Sweat & Tears. He maintained activity as a vocal coach on The Voice and handled production or remix work for Banco de Gaia, Beats Antique, Dub Pistols, Natacha Atlas, and many others. Signing with RareNoise Records in 2017, he released the 10" single “30Hz Dub Prelude” and joined Youth for the EP 2063: A Dub Odyssey on Youth’s Liquid Sound Design label. His debut RareNoise album Magnetic came out in June 2017, followed by the full-length collaboration Circuit with Deep Forest.