Saro Cosentino (Composer / Producer with many artists, Peter Hammill, Tim Bowness, Tony Levin, etc.)

This is my conversation with Saro Cosentino. It took place in June 2024 from his home in Prague.
Saro Cosentino was born in Rome on April 25, 1960. In the seventies he moved to Milan and began to play acoustic music of the North American folk tradition and blues. He collaborated with musicians from the Italian blues scene and, in 1979, formed the group "Saro Cosentino entertainment blues band" which included Fabio Treves and Maurizio Angeletti. With the band he made an album of the same name and participated in international festivals such as the "Milano blues night" and the "Pistoia blues festival".
Since 1979 he has been interested in experimental music and electronic music. In the same year he began his collaboration with Franco Battiato. With him he wrote, among others, I treni di Tozeur, a song that participated in the 1984 Eurovision Song Contest. In 1985 he formed, with the harpist Vincenzo Zitello, the duo A'sciara which combines the Celtic folk tradition and electronic music. The band participates in the Riva del Garda Festival winning the "Vela d'argento" for the best single of the year with the song Fill.
In 1987 he composed the music for the show "machine of love and death" by Tadeusz Kantor and collaborated in the production of the opera "Genesi" by Franco Battiato at the Teatro Regio in Parma and the opera "Gilgamesh" by Franco Battiato, as a narrator.
In 1988 he released his first solo album "Saro Cosentino" on the Ottava/EMI label. From 1990 to 2009 he alternated his work as a composer with that of a producer with numerous Italian and international artists, including: Franco Battiato, Alice, Mino Di Martino, Morgan, Giorgio Gaber, Milva, Ivano Fossati, Radiodervish, Massimo Zamboni, Peter Gabriel, Peter Hammill, Lal Shankar, Trey Gunn, Kudsi Erguner, Karen Eden, David Rhodes, Tim Bowness, Pandit Dinesh, Tony Levin, Laurence Revey, Natasha Atlas, Jakko Jakszyk, Gavin Harrison.
In 1995, with the collaboration with Mino Di Martino, he gave life to the TV Dinner project, followed by an international tour with the Ozric Tentacles. In 1998 he released his album Ones and Zeros. In 2006 he approached music through images. Among the soundtracks he has signed are: "Sfiorarsi" and "Rocco tiene tu nombre" by Angelo Orlando, Rough Hands "Ayadin Khachina" by Mohamed Asli in 2011 and the documentaries La maglietta rossa and 1960-I Ribelli directed by Mimmo Calopresti.
Theatre
Macchina dell'amore e della morte directed by Tadeusz Kantor, 1987
Casamatta Vendesi directed by Angelo Orlando, 2009
Iliad directed by Prospero Bentivenga, 2009
el circo invisible directed by Angelo Orlando, 2021
Cinema
I treni di Tozeur in La messa è finita directed by Nanni Moretti, 1985
Soundtrack of Sfiorarsi directed by Angelo Orlando, 2006
Soundtrack of La maglietta rossa directed by Mimmo Calopresti, 2009
Soundtrack of Il muro della Thyssen Krupp directed by Mimmo Calopresti and Renato Chiocca,
Soundtrack of Anch'io ero comunista directed by Mimmo Calopresti, 2010
Soundtrack of 1960-I Ribelli directed by Mimmo Calopresti, 2010
Soundtrack of Rough Hands "Ayadin Khachina" directed by Mohamed Asli, 2011
Soundtrack of Colpo di Vento directed by Enzo Russo, 2012
Soundtrack of Uno al Giorno directed by Mimmo Calopresti, 2012
Soundtrack of "Madre di Pietà" directed by Mimmo Calopresti, 2013
Soundtrack by Rocco Tiene tu Nombre directed by Angelo Orlando, 2014
Soundtrack of Equilibri Precari directed by Mimmo Calopresti, 2014
Soundtrack of Uno di noi, Socrates directed by Mimmo Calopresti, 2014
Soundtrack of Mirafiori Lunapark directed by Stefano Di Polito 2015
Soundtrack of La Fabbrica Fantasma directed by Mimmo Calopresti, 2016
Soundtrack of Portami Via directed by Marta Santamato Cosentino, 2017. *
Soundtrack of Quel che resta di me (surviving Boko Haram) directed by Marta Santamato Cosentino, 2018
Soundtrack of Romanzo Radicale directed by Mimmo Calopresti, 2022
Alcatraz Escape Soundtrack 2023
Discography
A'sciara (EMI) (1985))
Saro Cosentino (L'Ottava/EMI) (1988))
TV Dinner (Musicando) (1995))
Ones and Zeros (I Dischi del Mulo/C.P.I/Mercury - Voiceprint/Resurgence (rest of the world)) (1997))
The Different You - Robert Wyatt e noi - Alifib - Dischi del Mulo 1998
Ones and Zeros reloaded (Aratro Incisioni- Maracash- Self -2014)
Athmos Sphere (with Joao Filipe and Nicola Alesini -2017)
TV DINNER (25th anniversary edition) -MP records (with Mino Di Martino) 2020
Cities (with Nicola Alesini)2021
The Road to Now (cat sounds) 2022