Music
La GhengaIronic songs and disguises: four albums from 2007 to 2022, with tracklists and chords.
PauperesThe 2004 delirious opera: recordings, stage photos and sketches.
SamsaraItalian progressive rock: bass, vocals and composition, from 1995 to 2000.
Stage musicSixteen scores written for the theatre, from 2004 to 2025.
I have played piano since 1981, and I collect and play every kind of instrument. I went through progressive rock with Samsara and musical theatre with Pauperes, and today I take the ironic songs of La Ghenga Fuoriposto on stage. My favourite gig ever was on stage with Nobel laureate Dario Fo.
Watch the video: Adolfo Zilli with Dario Fo – video
La Ghenga Fuoriposto
Ironic songs and disguises: in our "second life" we are a wild criminal gang pretending to play funny songs. Four albums, and many of the songs became music videos. The band's website is ghenga.framer.website.
| Year | Album | Listen |
|---|---|---|
| 2022 | Un Gran Fermento | Spotify · YouTube |
| 2012 | AvanSpritzacolo | Spotify · Apple Music · YouTube |
| 2009 | LatiTanti | Spotify · Apple Music · YouTube |
| 2007 | Il Colpaccio |
Every track
For each track: listen, the music video where there is one, and the chords published on the band's website.
Un Gran Fermento (2022) · 14 tracks
| # | Track | Listen |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Intro | Spotify |
| 2 | Dieci Euro | Spotify · Chords |
| 3 | Il Complotto | Spotify |
| 4 | Socialguardone | Spotify · Video · Chords |
| 5 | Non Sto Sul Pezzo | Spotify |
| 6 | Contemporaneamente 2.0 | Spotify · Chords |
| 7 | Quanto Beo | Spotify · Video |
| 8 | Flying Spaghetti Monster | Spotify · Video |
| 9 | Il Tempo | Spotify · Video |
| 10 | Oltre Lo Specchio | Spotify · Video · Chords |
| 11 | La Semplicità è Difficile | Spotify · Video |
| 12 | Metti Caso | Spotify · Video |
| 13 | Tarantatrolley | Spotify |
| 14 | Un Gran Fermento | Spotify · Chords |
AvanSpritzacolo (2012) · 13 tracks
| # | Track | Listen |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Avanspritzacolo | Spotify |
| 2 | Hablar Con Le Sigle | Spotify · Video · Chords |
| 3 | Samba Par Ti | Spotify |
| 4 | Due Metri Più in Là | Spotify · Chords |
| 5 | Conto in Banca | Spotify · Chords |
| 6 | Burocrazia | Spotify |
| 7 | Charleston | Spotify |
| 8 | Rimpatriata | Spotify |
| 9 | Quello Che Canta in Inglese | Spotify |
| 10 | Tu Vuo' Fa L'americano | Spotify |
| 11 | Venezia 2020 | Spotify · Video |
| 12 | Il Madonnaro | Spotify · Video · Chords |
| 13 | Un Posto | Spotify |
LatiTanti (2009) · 14 tracks
| # | Track | Listen |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Caccia La Grana | Spotify · Chords |
| 2 | Ladri Di Arte Contemporanea | Spotify · Chords |
| 3 | Incredibile | Spotify · Chords |
| 4 | Relax | Spotify · Chords |
| 5 | Vegetariana | Spotify · Chords |
| 6 | Sorridere Sul Serio | Spotify · Chords |
| 7 | Vedo Nero | Spotify |
| 8 | El Mussatto Matto | Spotify · Video · Chords |
| 9 | Che Carina | Spotify · Chords |
| 10 | Fenomeno Mediatico | Spotify · Chords |
| 11 | Ritornello | Spotify |
| 12 | L'uomo Nero | Spotify · Video · Chords |
| 13 | Notte | Spotify |
| 14 | Più Forte Della Tangenziale | Spotify · Chords |
Il Colpaccio (2007) · 12 tracks
| # | Track | Listen |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | UUUOOOAAA | MP3 · Chords |
| 2 | La Bisca | MP3 · Chords |
| 3 | Mucho Paradoxo | MP3 · Chords |
| 4 | Mezzaluna Fertile | MP3 · Chords |
| 5 | Dehli Random | MP3 · Chords |
| 6 | Quanto Fuori | MP3 · Chords |
| 7 | Contemporaneamente | MP3 · Video · Chords |
| 8 | Fuoriposto | MP3 · Chords |
| 9 | Perfetto | MP3 · Chords |
| 10 | Sbronzo Oggi | MP3 |
| 11 | Il Progetto | MP3 · Chords |
| 12 | La Ghenga Fuoriposto | MP3 |
Pauperes – opera delirica (2004)
Between Samsara and the Ghenga came Pauperes – opera delirica (a "delirious opera"), a musical stage show in which I was co-author of lyrics and music, actor, singer and musician. The songs travel through the age of the Crusades, among popes, knights and emperors: from Jerusalem to Byzantium, up to the story of the false Baldwin.
No official record was ever released, because the music was the soundtrack of the show. For the curious, here are the recordings and some artwork.
- Lyrics and music: Paola Brolati, Adolfo Zilli, Flavio Andreis
- Cast: Davide Testi, Monica Gori, Marco Centazzo, Massimo Moretto, Andrea Pizzato, Luigi Ballarin, Adolfo Zilli, Flavio Andreis, Paola Brolati, Gerardo Polito, Andrea Pegoraro, Igor Maras, Franco Buosi, Sara Zambelli, Francesca Gavardi, Nicola Vanzan
- Set design: Fabio Santin
- Costumes: Elisa and Renata Cargnel, Monica Gori
On stage
The recordings
Pauperes – part one · 11 tracks
Pauperes – part two · 14 tracks
Sketches and artwork
The Samsara years
Before the Ghenga came Italian progressive rock with Samsara, a band from the Villorba area near Treviso. The group formed in 1992 and took the name Samsara in 1994: a Sanskrit word which, as I explained in a 1998 interview, means evolution, the sublimation of matter into pure essence. In Samsara I was bassist, singer and composer, and the band's frontman.
The line-up
- Adolfo Zilli: bass and vocals
- Alex Manfrè: piano and organ
- Mauro Cenedese: guitar
- Giovanni Manti: drums
Our gigs were already multimedia shows, with stage sets, video projections and slides.
Discography
| Year | Album | Line-up |
|---|---|---|
| 1995 | Figurazioni (demo, in packaging that looks like carved stone) | Samsara |
| 1997 | Imaginaria | Samsara |
| 2000 | Pubblico Dominio | Samsara 2.0 |
Imaginaria (1997)
- Genre: Italian progressive rock
- Released: 15 May 1997
- Length: 55 minutes, 11 tracks
- Recorded and mixed at: Blue Train Studio, Mira (Venice)
- Label: produced by Pick-Up Records, distributed by RTI Music
- Tracks include: Pura essenza, Medioevo, Signore e signori..., Il circo
- Listen: Spotify · Apple Music · YouTube
Besides singing and playing, I drew the illustrations for the CD booklet and made the short animation that accompanies the video for Il circo.
On ProgArchives, the reference archive for progressive rock, the review describes Imaginaria as songs that "combine psychedelic bohemianism with the vivacity of punk", with "bold extroverted vocals" that "add a touch of raucous cabaret". Read the Samsara page on ProgArchives and the 1998 interview on Rockit (in Italian).
Professor McCloose
Two tracks on Imaginaria, Una folle idea and Viaggio nelle sincronie, tell the story of Professor John McCloose, the scientist who in 1868 builds a machine to speed up his own vital rhythms and stop time. Together with La polvere and two short comics they make up a small saga about rhythm and perception: the story, the pages and the theory are on the Professor McCloose page.
The songs of Professor McCloose · 3 tracks
Stage music
I have written 16 scores for theatre, including Stupor mundi (2025), Il felicitometro (2024), Il Complotto (2014), Slegàmi and Vietato calpestare i sogni (2013), La valigia sotto il letto di Olivia (2012) and Pauperes (2004). The full list is on the Theatre page.
I also work in sound design and sound engineering, and I build musical instruments.
Have a project in mind?
I work as a freelancer with companies, research institutes, museums and schools, in Italy and remotely across Europe. Drop me a line or give me a call.