September 17, 2019: "Artistry Tuesday" featuring Emilio Bonito!

"Artistry Tuesday"

Featuring Emilio Bonito

September 17, 2019

by Randal L Meek

"www.randalsview.blog"

Emilio Bonito has the face of a boy, plays like a god, and channels emotion into a powerful musical river! That is how I would describe Emilio Bonito.

A musical prodigy, born and raised in the “music city” of Hamilton, Ontario Emilio began playing the piano at the age of 4 and the guitar at age 10 (so that he could “rock out”!). At an age when most of us were watching “Mr. Rogers” Emilio was already living the credo that has brought to him to his current place in the world “In a year from now, you’ll wish you started today!”

Classically trained with a decade of study and training at the Royal Conservatory of Music, Emilio emerged as an artist. That artist has technical skills that rival anyone on the planet, but what sets him apart is his immense capacity for channeling emotion into music. Compositional talent is different than performance talent and not all artists have both. Even technical compositional ability does not guarantee that the composer is able to “move you” with their music. When Emilio composes, he taps directly into emotion and delivers it in a way that can take the listener to soaring heights or the depths of sadness laced with hope.

One of the most beautiful and tender songs I have ever heard is “Tenderly” released by Emilio just last year. I love this song because it is the perfect embodiment of what modern-day fingerstyle can be. Modern fingerstyle often seems to lose it’s way with displays of percussive techniques, harmonics and two-handed picking: all difficult to execute, but can also overwhelm or even replace beautiful melody and the emotion that draws us to music in the first place. Emilio always manages to use these techniques as a tool in the creation of the melody rather than “instead” of melody.

Even the ominous and heavy “The Kraken” finds a compelling melody that is laced with technique, but technique that develops the imagery rather than supplants it. I miss the days of liner notes on LP’s, but I don’t need liner notes to understand that Emilio is wrestling with a deep and terrible monster in “The Kraken”. 

“Midnight Runner”, “Keys to the Hovercraft” & “Lobster” show that Emilio’s “chops” are world-class, but even in these technique-heavy pieces, the techniques are used either to enhance melody or create imagery. Check out the tremendously difficult two-handed technique of “Keys to the Hovercraft” and you will leave seeing the old “Jetson’s” cartoon hovercraft and robots blinking at you from a “then futuristic” world. Really masterful and effective use of technique to create exactly what he was trying to show rather than just showing us technique.

“Wherever The Wind Blows” again evokes intense imagery and emotion in the melody and uses technique only to create this imagery. This was a young man working through intense emotion and channeling it to create something beautiful.

“Ethereal”, a collaboration with Tommy Berre blends the talent of two emotional masters and I believe Tommy sets the pace here with intense concentration on the sweet melody. It’s almost like a glimpse into the future of Emilio’s music where I believe modern technique steps further into the background to allow emotion and melody to move fully center stage.

The recent release, “You’re Not Alone”, brings a tear to the eye and the image of a dear and trusted friend with hand on shoulder. And "Ataraxy" is perfect for part of that inevitable future solo set at Massey or Carnegie Hall!

Finally, the latest release, "Daydreamer" displays Emilio's unique sound and incredible talent, but shows more of that continuing emotional development, depth and maturity. Sweet, strong, with just a touch of haunting, this piece starts to really dig deep into that emotional well that Emilio has to offer. He is one of my favorite artists and just keeps getting better with each new release! I can’t wait to see where the next few decades take him and his music!

By Randal L Meek

You can find Emilio Bonito’s music here: 

On Spotify: Emilio Bonito

On Apple Music: Emilio Bonito