Marco Parente, class ’69, was born in Naples but lived most of his life in Florence, where, in the early 90’s, he joined few local bands before entering the studio as a drummer with Italian cult band C.S.I.
His debut album as a solo artist comes out in 1997. -Eppur non basta- is an experimental record that pushes the boundaries of Italian canzone that was critically acclaimed for its originality and instrumental arrangments. The magnificent female voice of Italian pop diva Carmen Consoli appears on one of his tracks.
After his participation on a tribute album to Robert Wyatt in which he records Wyatt’s -Gharbzadegi-, he writes 11 melancholic and intriguing songs that make up his second album titled -Testa di Cuore-. This time guest voice on one of his songs is that of Cristina Donà, a lovely voice of the Italian music scene.
His latest album is -Trasparente- and it has been published in Italy in 2002 The Italian title literally translates as -Transparent- to signify a work that sees through him and catches him at his most emotive. It has been defined by the critics as a new beginning for Italian songwriting and Marco Parente, on the eyes of other artists, is said to be writing the history of contemporary Italian songwriting.
It was probably for this reason that Marco has been asked to perform an acoustic set at the RuhrTriennale for the Century Of Songs event in October 2003.