The Chris Manning Project Feat. Gianni Chiarello

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CHRIS MANNING - Vocals

Singer songwriter Chris was born in Inverness in 1978, Drama and English A-levels helped Chris develop as a song writer as well as a showman. At 18 Chris got his first professional break as a “Show-Red” at Butlins in Minehead. Singing, dancing, acting and comparing everyday - and getting paid for it - Chris was in his element. After two busy years he formed his first band ‘Red Alert’ with four of his colleagues and left his happy holiday home to perform at high profile events, across the UK and Europe. They signed a management deal with Stock Akin & Waterman’s first signing - Hazel Dean and made TV appearances on Carlton Kids - Up 4 It, BBC’s ‘Jane Macdonald’s’ “Star For A Night”, packed out gigs at G.A.Y. London and regularly supported pop sensations like Blue, Atomic Kitten and Five.

After an intense few years touring Chris decided that a change was necessary and moved home to focus on writing his own music. He tested his fresh material on audiences at local acoustic sessions and in 2002 entered UK club venue Jumpin Jaks ‘Search For A Star’ competition, beating over 12,000 hopefuls to the top spot at the finals in Coventry. Not long afterwards he fought off 50,000 applicants to become one of 12 students in BBC’s reality show Fame Academy. After the TV experience came a hectic tour - 21 dates of sold-out shows at the biggest and most prestigious arenas across the UK from Glasgow to London Wembley, drawing thousands every night.

Having already recorded his own version of Van Morrison’s ‘Brown Eyed Girl’ for the Fame Academy album (which sold nearly 400,000 copies and went gold and silver) Chris came off the tour, exhausted, yet exhilarated and keen to get back in the recording studio.

Chris has started gigging again full time up and down the country, performing at big venues nation-wide, launched The Party In The Park in his home town of Inverness and rocked a Bournemouth Crowd of 10,000 alongside Amy Studt for Party At The Pier.

Chris continues to perform in and around the South with his new 6 piece Disco - Soul - Funk band “Mirrorball” and is currently developing his debut record from his studio at home with his friend and song writing producer Gianni Chiarello which will be ready for independent release later this year.

www.myspace.com/thechrismanningproject

GIANNI CHIARELLO - Guitar

Born in Feltre (Italy) in 1973, started playing guitar aged 9. In his early years he played in almost every club in northeast Italy developing different styles, from rock to pop, funk, jazz and teaching in many schools and associations. Together with his classical training, he attended master classes held by Joe Diorio, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Philip Catherine, Manhattan School of Music, Berklee College of Music, and New School of Music, always catching the attention of teachers and students (and winning two Awards at Umbria Jazz Clinics of 1996 and 1997).

He performed in jazz festivals with some of Italy’s finest musicians, Marco Tamburini, Massimo Manzi, Mark Abrhams and Mark Smith, always with positive reviews in local and national newspapers.

In 1999 he moved to Boston to attend Berklee College of Music, on a scholarship program, where he studied under the direction of Mick Goodrick, Hal Crook, Brett Willmott and Dave Samuels. In addition to playing in the Boston area as a freelance musician, he performed in Washington DC with the Jazz/Rock Ensemble, led by the Yo Team, for the Charles Shwab Corp. and at the BPC in Boston. In 2001 he graduated with a Degree "Magna cum laude" in Professional Music at Berklee College, furthermore winning the Betty Carter's jazz Ahead, in Washington, DC.

Gianni is also a sought after studio musician. He recorded "Acoustic Funk-97" by Hip-hop band Acoustic Funk, Devas’ "True illusions", "Sfonderai" by singer songwriter Carlo Colombo (2002), Joe Faulder's "I'm no monkey" and "The first snow" by Korean jazz singer Yim Kyung A. He also appears in a recent live recording of the 60’s band The Coasters.

More recently he has been performing with, and leading as musical director, numerous RCCL orchestras, comping for celebrities from the sixties like The Platters, The Coasters, Bobby Arvon, The Diamonds, Vegas-Broadway entertainers like Tony Tillman, Kenny James, Hal Fraiser, Lorna Luft, Ben Vereen, Susan Anton and Dominique Allen. Furthermore his work entailed musical theatre style production reviews, encompassing shows such as “Smokey Joe’s Café”, “We Will Rock You”, “Starlight Express”, “Grease” and “Rent”. His focus is now writing and performing his own music in different settings, working on the release of his first album.