Fabrizio Grossi On His Multi-Faceted Career As A Performer & Producer, Steve Vai & More

Originally hailing from Milan, Italy, Fabrizio Grossi is a renowned bassist, producer and music consultant. Grossistarted playing as teenager with several Italian bands before moving to New York in 1990, where he formed the instrumental trio Conspiracy with guitarist Anthony Bambino and drummer John Macaluso. He also served as a U.S. representative, developer and/or A&R associate for a number of European and Latin American record and entertainment companies around this time. Grossi relocated to Los Angeles in 1996, joining up with punk icon Nina Hagen for the recording of her acclaimed album on BMG Bee Happy, as followed by a studio collaboration with GRAMMY-winning guitarist and composer Steve Vai for his Fire Garden album. In the years since, Grossi has kept active as a producer, player and consultant with credits that also include ZZ Top’s Billy F. Gibbons, Toto’s Steve Lukather, Deep Purple’s Glenn Hughes, Alice Cooper, Paul Stanley, and Funkadelic’s George Clinton.

With his band Supersonic Blues Machine, Fabrizio Grossi has headlined numerous festivals worldwide, including the Notodden Blues Festival (Norway), Mahindra Blues Festival (India), Holland International Blues Festival (Holland) and Rambling Man Fair (UK). Both of the band’s studio albums have charted high on the Billboard Blues charts. Meanwhile, Grossi also leads another acclaimed band, the Soul Garage Experience. From the Soul Garage Experience, you can expect a sound full of simultaneous roots, funk, soul and 1960s grooves. Per the band’s website, this is said to be the music which Grossi always wanted to play and also got him to pick up the bass guitar in the first place.

On October 4, 2021, I had the pleasure of speaking with Fabrizio Grossi via Zoom, as embedded below. Beyond the Supersonic Blues Machine and the Soul Garage Experience, we spoke about his decision to leave Italy for the United States in the early 1990s, how he likes to be thought of professionally, future projects, and how a random encounter with David Lee Roth indirectly inspired him to say “yes” to all worthwhile-sounding opportunities. More on Grossi can be found here, here, here and here.

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Tags: Chad Smith, Fabrizio Grossi, george clinton, Italy, Los Angeles, Milan, New York, Steve Vai

About the Author

Darren Paltrowitz Darren Paltrowitz is a New York resident with over 20 years of entertainment industry experience. He began working around the music business as a teenager, interning for the manager of his then-favorite band Superdrag. Since then, he has worked with a wide array of artists including OK Go, They Might Be Giants, Mike Viola, Tracy Bonham, Loudness, Rachael Yamagata, and Amanda Palmer. Darren's writing has appeared in dozens of outlets including the New York Daily News, Inquisitr, The Daily Meal, The Hype Magazine, All Music Guide, Guitar World, TheStreet.com, Businessweek, Chicago Tribune, L.A. Times, and the Jewish Journal. Beyond being "Editor At Large" for The Hype Magazine, Darren is also the host of weekly "Paltrocast With Darren Paltrowitz" series, which airs on dozens on television and digital networks. He has also co-authored 2 published books, 2018's "Pocket Change: Your Happy Money" (Book Web Publishing) and 2019's "Good Advice From Professional Wrestling" (6623 Press), and co-hosts the world's only known podcast about David Lee Roth, "The DLR Cast."