Online magazine Jazz Weekly says, Adrian Raso “(has) got gypsy blood and makes his guitar sing like a midnight crooner.”  It’s a fitting description for this rather raffish Toronto-based musician who also looks the part in his Zegna pinstripe suit, black Biltmore Eleganza fedora and Ted Baker tie.

Raso is a guitar virtuoso and exceptional songwriter (channelling Johnny Cash’s ghost and deep south voodoo), whose jaw‐dropping live shows never fail to impress.  He has released two instrumental EPs and ten full‐length albums, featuring everything from Django Reinhardt-influenced Gypsy Swing to Brian Setzer-style Rockabilly.

One of Adrian’s greatest loves (Balkan brass music) won him his greatest success to date: recording and performing live with Romania’s sensational twelve-piece Fanfare Ciocarlia, who are famous for playing their unique regional take on Roma folk music at breakneck tempos and have sold hundreds of thousands of albums worldwide.  Their 2014 release together, “A Devil’s Tale” (Asphalt Tango Records), even featured Raso’s name above the band’s; it topped European world music charts, earned plenty of critical plaudits and led to a European tour that showcased the guitar wizard’s songs and skills to hundreds of rabid fans.  Fanfare Ciocarlia and Adrian Raso also headlined to much acclaim at TD Sunfest ‘16.

Adrian’s upcoming visit to London is in support of his aptly titled 10^th studio, “Gypsybilly King” (released on October 25, 2019), which blends furious Rockabilly guitar with other rough-hewn influences ranging from Country & Western to Romanian Hora, deep south Blues and Italian Tarantella.